A youth was deplaned and taken into custody by Central Industrial Security Force personnel at Kolkata airport on Monday morning after he allegedly uploaded a social media post from inside the aircraft that contained the word “terrorist”.
The young man later identified as Yog Vedan Poddar, said to be in his twenties, had covered his face with a handkerchief and taken a picture. He captioned the photograph, “Terrorist on board, I destroy women’s hearts”.
A co-passenger who saw his post, promptly informed the crew of the Kolkata-Mumbai flight that the youth made the post.
The incident triggered panic especially in view of the anniversary of the Mumbai terror attacks.
The pilot contacted the air traffic control and took the plane back to the tarmac.
The flight, 9W472 that was supposed to take off at 8:30 am, was delayed by an hour.
The youth was taken to the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport police station for questioning.
Police officers at Kolkata’s airport , speaking on conditions of anonymity, said, “After the crew were alerted by the co-passenger, the youth Yog Vedan Poddar refused to show his mobile phone to the air hostess. Then, the CISF personnel found that he indeed made the post, where he took a selfie with his face covered and wrote those words. We are now checking his antecedents.”
The youth lives in Beliaghata area of east Kolkata. He told the police officers that he was merely indulging in a prank with his friends.
“He was indulging in a prank,” said his father Nirmal Poddar, who rushed to the airport police station.