'Bomb in my bag?': Passenger arrested at Cochin airport for making 'alarming' remark during security check

KOCHI: A passenger who was going from Kochi to Mumbai was arrested in Nedumbassery during the security check. Manoj Kumar (42), who was travelling on Air India's Kochi-Mumbai flight, was arrested. The incident happened on Sunday morning. The words he used during the security check is what led to his arrest. The action against the man is for allegedly making an 'alarming' remark.

The incident took place during the pre-flight security check. He asked the officer who was doing the security check, 'Is there a bomb in my bag?' He asked. This is what led to the arrest. After checking the bag in detail, it was found that there was no other problem, but Manoj was handed over to the local police. He told the police that he said it as a joke.
Later, after ensuring that there were no other safety issues, the flight departed on time. A similar incident had taken place at the Kochi airport recently too. The flight took off from Nedumbassery airport two hours late due to a passenger's joke that there was a bomb in the luggage. Thiruvananthapuram native Prasanth, a businessman in Africa, was bothered by the security check. In response to a question by the officials, he said that his bag contained a bomb.

Security has been beefed up at the airport ahead of Independence Day. As part of this, there is a secondary ladder point check before boarding the aircraft after the initial security checks. The check is done here by the airline staff. Each flight takes off after strict security measures to ensure there are no chances of accidents.