Mangaluru Airport Bomb Planter arrested, suspect surrenders before Police

In a major development, the Mangaluru Airport bomb planter suspect has been arrested on Wednesday, January 22, after he surrendered before the police at Halasuru police station, stated the local media.

It was further reported that the suspect, identified as Aditya Rao has been previously arrested for bomb hoax calls to the Bengaluru police. 

IED found at Mangaluru international airport

On Monday, the Central Industrial Security Force found an Improvised explosive device (IED) in a suspicious bag at the Manguluru airport in Karnataka. DIG Anil Pandey had informed that the bag was found at the ticket counter at the airport. 

According to Karnataka Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai, as soon as they received the information of a suspicious-looking bag through the CCTV camera, the CISF and the local police isolated it and moved it to a safer location. After the bomb squad arrived and checked the backpack, it detected bomb-making material in the bag. 

Apart from IED, the bag reportedly contained several other materials used in bomb-making including nails, battery, timer, detonator wire, and a switch. On Monday evening, the Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad (BDDS) neutralised the bomb in a controlled explosion which ended in a white cloud at the Kenjir grounds. 

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Airport authorities receive threat call

On Monday at around 3:15 pm, the airport authorities had also received a threat call claiming that a bomb was on board a flight from Mangalore to Bengaluru (6E-528). However, after search operations, it was reported that there were no explosives on the flight. 

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Security tightened in the state

In view of the incident, the police had heightened the security at all airports in Karnataka including Bangalore, Mangalore, Hubli, and Belagavi. Further, security was also been tightened around Mangaluru, Bengaluru, and Hubli.

Karnataka Home Minister said, "We have seen in the past as well how there are attempts at terror attacks closer to January 26th. We have managed to foil all their attempts so far. Mangalore is also on the radar and thus we have tightened the security."

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Read: Security tightened at Mangaluru International Airport