No contact with Adithya for last two years, says brother of Mangaluru bomb case suspect

Adithya Rao, who is suspected to have planted an explosive device at Mangaluru international airport, was kept out of the family two years back after he started indulging in eccentric acts like hoax bomb calls, his brother Akshath said on Wednesday. Talking to reporters at his home in Chilimbi, he said despite several pleas from his father and other family members, Adithya refused to mend his ways.

"So we kept him out of the family and we have no contact with him for the last two years," he said. Akshath said the family cannot be held responsible for what he does and that even they are living in fear. The family came to Mangaluru six months back and is staying at a rented accommodation. Akshath, who is working in a state-owned bank, said the last time the family contacted Adithya was when his mother died.

He was at Chikkaballapur prison at the time and was informed, but did not come for the funeral though jail authorities were willing to let him perform the last rites. Akshath said he came to know that his brother was working in Mangaluru only through the media. Adithya had earlier been arrested for making a hoax bomb call to Bengaluru airport in 2018 and was jailed for six months.

A 'live' explosive device was found in an unattended bag near a ticket counter of the departure gate of the international airport in Mangaluru on Monday and later defused at a nearby open ground. Adithya, who surrendered before the Bengaluru police on Wednesday, is being questioned, according to sources.