Indian in jam triggers bomb scare

A Delhi businessman stuck in a traffic jam triggered a bomb scare after he was refused permission to join a later flight, police in India say.

They say that the 35-year-old made a phone call to the IndiGo airline to issue his threat on 12 August.

Police say that the businessman was irked that his request for a later flight was not accepted.

When he was refused, he called in again to say there was a bomb on the plane, triggering a huge security operation.

Police say they arrested the businessman after he confessed to making the call.

Hoax calls have gained in popularity in India in recent times.

Major emergency

"Just to delay the flight's departure, he telephoned the call centre of the airline and announced there was a bomb in the aircraft," senior Delhi police officer Satyendra Garg told the AFP news agency.

The call led to an alert at the airport and a major emergency operation was launched to search the passengers and luggage.

The flight took off after a delay of several hours.

Police arrested the businessman the next day by tracing his mobile number and taking a statement from his taxi driver, who overheard him making the hoax call and refused to drop him at the airport, according to reports.

In the last decade, India has seen frequent bomb attacks in many of its cities and calls warning about bombs at airports, on flights and in marketplaces are taken very seriously.

Nearly all such calls have proved to be a hoax, but they create panic and often cause significant financial losses.

Officials say each such call involves the bomb disposal squad, sniffer dogs, ambulances, police force and doctors.

Last month, police in Rajasthan filed a court case seeking $4,000 in damages from a hoax caller.

In that call, Jaipur resident Wahiduddin said the city would witness a series of blasts, it is alleged.

Police said the response to his call cost 200,000 rupees ($4,000).

Since the beginning of the year, Jaipur police say they have received 11 hoax calls warning about impending bomb blasts.