A man claiming to have kept part of an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) at the Mangaluru International Airport surrendered before police in Bengaluru on Wednesday, 22 January.
As per initial information, the suspect has been identified as Aditya Rao.
On Wednesday morning, Rao reportedly approached the Director General of Police’s office, claiming that he was the person who had kept the IED. He was subsequently taken into custody by the Usloor Gate police and his interrogation is underway.
Mangaluru police commissioner PS Harsha said that a team of Mangaluru police has been dispatched to interrogate the suspect and verify the details.
On Monday, 20 January, parts of an IED were found near a ticketing counter at the Mangaluru International Airport. According to the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), a person kept a bag and left it unattended outside the airport. Within five minutes, security personnel deployed outside observed this bag and BDDS (Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad) was called in.
Later, they found components of IED inside the bag. This was later transported to outskirts of the city and defused.
Suspect is a Habitual Offender
According to police, the man in their custody is a habitual offender. He was arrested in 2018 for a series of hoax calls to Bengaluru’s Kempegowda International Airport and the Krantivira Sangilli Rayanna (KSR) city railway station. According to police, he was upset about not getting a job as security personnel at the airport.
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