A day after a fake bomb threat was made via email at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, Hyderabad, the Cyberabad police have arrested the accused. The accused was identified as 24-year-old Katraju Shashikanth, an MTech student. 

According to police, Shashikanth was jealous of his childhood friend Sairam Kaleru leaving to Canada for higher studies, while he remained unemployed. 

Police said that the accused had earlier too made an attempt to sabotage Sairam’s career by writing a fake email to the Canada immigration officials with abusive comments. However, the visa had arrived, much to the disappointment of Shashikanth, according to Telangana Today.

On Tuesday noon, Shashikanth sent a bomb threat from his phone. He wrote, “I want to blast bomb in airport tomorrow” to RGIA customer support. In the threat, Shashikanth gave Sairam’s email address and mobile number as the sender’s details, assuming that the police would nab Sairam. 

However, based on the IP address, the Shamshabad police tracked down the accused and arrested him.

After receiving the fake alert on Tuesday, security officials had conducted searches in the entire building. After they couldn’t find any explosive, they later declared the email as “non-specific”.

Shashikanth was arrested on Wednesday, according to India Today. He was booked under Sections 505 (mischief) and 507 (criminal intimidation by an anonymous communication) of the Indian Penal Code, and Section 3(D) of Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Civil Aviation Act.

Despite all the ill-intentions that Shashikanth harboured against his friend, Sairam visited him at Shamshabad police station and gave Rs 500 before bidding farewell. He later left for Canada on Wednesday.