Bengaluru: The Kempegowda International Airport police have nabbed a 34 year-old MBA graduate for making hoax calls to the airport, allegedly to avenge the humiliation of being denied a job as a security guard at KIA.
The accused, Aditya Rao, who hails from Manipal in Udupi district, made four hoax calls in a week and claimed that Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) were planted in the airport as well as flights.
Rao also had made a similar hoax call to the Krantiveera Sangolli Rayanna (KSR) railway station on August 27 after he picked up a fight with the cloak room staff over baggage fee.
Rao made the first call on August 20 to a KIA tele-inquiry number and claimed there was a bomb at the parking/lobby area, which will explode by 11 am and disconnected the call.
KIA officials went into a tizzy and conducted an elaborate search operation at the parking and lobby area, but the bomb and dog squad drew a blank. He again called up at 3:46 pm to inform the same.
On August 23 he called up at 11:04 am and told the Terminal Manager that IEDs have been planted in some aircraft and they could go off any time.
Hoax call as revenge Rao was tired of searching for jobs in the city and one day got to know about openings in KIA for security guards.
He applied and was called for an interview, but was rejected as he did not have the required documents and claimed he was humiliated. Rao told police that he picked up random flight numbers from the internet and threatened airport authorities about IEDs being planted and cited specific flight numbers.
The airport authorities could not afford to ignore his calls and used to carry out search operations as the caller had provided exact flight numbers.
As Rao used to make calls from his mobile phone, he was easily tracked by the police based on his CDR and arrested him. The police claimed they have now solved five cases, including three hoax calls and a theft case in Jayanagar last month.
For over a year Rao had worked in various private banks for short stints and used to switch jobs often.
Then he returned to Mangaluru and joined as a security guard at an engineering college, but in 2012 he quit the job to work as cook at a Matha in Puttige.
He returned to Bengaluru in 2017 and worked in an insurance company for six months. He then quit the job and this time stole a laptop from his colleague and fled.
Later, Rao committed a theft at a paying guest accommodation in Suddaguntepalya and was on the run, till he was caught for hoax calls.
