Man detained for 'joking' about terrorists on Kol-Mum flight

KOLKATA: A passenger on a Jet Airways flight from Kolkata to Mumbai Monday morning was taken off the plane and arrested after he was seen sending a photo of himself with a handkerchief covering half his face on Snapchat with a comment that read, "Terrorist on board, I destroy women's hearts".

The Jet Airways flight 9W 472 was taxing on the runway for take-off at 8:15 am when a passenger sitting diagonally behind 21-year-old Yogvedant Poddar saw him posting the photo with the words "terrorist, destroy".

The alarmed passenger discreetly informed a flight attendant, who alerted the pilots about a possible threat to the aircraft.

"The pilot reported the matter to the ATC (air-traffic controller)," an airport official said, and aborted take-off.

The police also were on high alert for the anniversary of the 2008 Mumbai attacks. "His social media language... was inferred as a security threat," the Airports Authority of India said in a statement.

Once the plane returned to the terminal at Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport, Yogvedant Poddar was taken off the plane by Jet security and handed over to the Central Industrial Security Force who handed over to the airport police for questioning.

His luggage was offloaded and examined, but nothing suspicious found, a source said. He was later released.

Poddar's father who came to the airport police station told journalists that his son had only been joking with friends on social media.

A resident of Beliaghata in Kolkata's northeast, Poddar was going to Mumbai for a job interview, according to sources.