Disgruntled IndiGo employee held in Pune for hoax bomb call

An employee of IndiGo Airlines has been arrested for making a bomb hoax call in a Mumbai-bound flight earlier this month, the Delhi Police said on Sunday.

Kartik Madhav, 23, was arrested from Pune on Friday by a team of the Delhi Police. Sanjay Bhatia, deputy commissioner of police (IGI Airport), said Madhav told them he had made the call because he was “depressed” and “frustrated” with his employer.

A statement issued by IndiGo said it has “suspended an employee for his alleged involvement” after the “initial findings of the police”. “Given the sensitivity of the matter, we will not be able to disclose any further details at the moment. We are fully cooperating and assisting the concerned authorities in this investigation,” it said.

The call about the bomb threat in the Mumbai-bound flight, which was set to depart from the Delhi airport, was received at 8.15 am on May 2 at the office of IndiGo Airlines.

“The meeting of the Bomb Threat Assessment Committee (BTAC) was immediately convened and we got some Mumbai-bound flights physically checked for nearly two hours before declaring the call as a hoax,” said Bhatia.

The police then registered an FIR and launched an investigation. They said the identity of the caller was ascertained by checking the details of the mobile phone number used for the call.

“Having obtained his diploma in 2013, he (Madhav) began working in the aviation sector and his last employer was Indigo Airlines,” said the DCP.

“He disclosed that his performance at work was not up to the mark. He had been issued a verbal notice to improve his performance in three months or face departmental action,” the DCP added.

“The notice left him depressed and he decided to teach the airlines a lesson by making the false call,” said the DCP.