HAPPY BOMB SETS OF HIJACK SCARE

A man set off a hijack scare at Kochi airport after filming a Mumbaibound Jet aircraft and writing a message to say he was going to hijack the plane using a ‘happy bomb’.

The selfie addiction of a passenger went too far when he shot a mobile selfie video before boarding the Kochi-Mumbai flight from Nedumbassery on Monday claiming to hijack the flight using a ‘happy bomb’.

The accused, identified as TV host and video jockey Clince Varghese, 29, of Thrissur, currently residing in Mumbai, was taken into custody by the security personnel and was being questioned.

According to the police, he arrived at the airport to catch the Jet Airways’ 9W 825 Kochi-Mumbai flight which was scheduled to depart at 12 pm.

“When Varghese came near the boarding ladder, he shot a video selfie using his mobile phone in which he was heard claiming that he will hijack the flight using ‘happy bomb’. The airline staff also overheard him repeating the same to a friend on phone and alerted the airport security officers,” an airport spokesperson said. All the passengers were offloaded from the flight and subjected to thorough security check.

“Varghese was offloaded and his baggage was checked following the complaint received by the domestic terminal manager who also alerted the CISF personnel. He was later handed over to the police,” the official said.

The local police said the accused told them during interrogation that he was only expressing his happiness to his friend in Mumbai on Facebook chat.