Mangaluru Airport bomb planter Aditya Rao had shopped on Amazon, assembled bomb at home

News Network
March 17, 2022

Mangaluru, Mar 17: The man, who was awarded 20 years of imprisonment for planting an improvised explosive bomb at the Mangaluru International Airport in January 2020, had managed to get raw materials to prepare the explosive from online service provider Amazon, as per the judgement.

Investigation agencies have submitted a report to the court about the accused Aditya Rao (37) procuring raw materials to make explosives online and in the 80-page judgement, the court mentions the same.

They found that the accused with an intention to explore the substance so as to cause terror and endanger human life, had pre-planned an outline and collected the information for preparing improvised explosive substances by calling up 'Just Dial' company, the investigation agencies have stated.

Rao had visited several cyber centres, browsing centres as well as internet centres and collected the information. Upon such collection of information, he had ordered the necessary raw materials for explosives from the Amazon website, the investigation report says.

After collecting the raw materials without any license, the accused had discreetly stored them in the staff quarters of a family restaurant in Mangaluru.

Without permission from any authority, he had mixed the raw materials and prepared improvised explosive substances. After this, he had kept that improvised explosive substance in a black bag and moved it to the sensitive and crowded area at the departure gate of Mangaluru International Airport, the report says.

He had left the black back containing improvised explosive substances at the airport and escaped from the place.

In 2018, the accused had applied for a security supervisor post at Bengaluru airport and had spent Rs 7,500 for securing the post. When his attempts failed and he could not get the security supervisor job, he had made a hoax call that there is a bomb in Bangalore Airport and railway station.

Later, he was arrested and sentenced to one-year imprisonment. After serving the sentence of one year he had developed hatred towards the government and with this hatred, he had committed the offence punishable under Section 4 of the Explosive Substances Act of 1908 and section 16 of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act 1967.

The facts which emerged from the prosecution papers are that the accused with an intention to threaten the unity integrated security and sovereignty of India had placed the improvised explosive substances, the judge observed.

The Fourth Additional District and Session's Court of Dakshina Kannada district Judge B.R. Pallavi convicted the accused 37-year-old Adithya Rao for 20 years of imprisonment on March 11.

The accused has been found guilty under Section 4 of the Explosive Substances Act 1908 and Section 16 of the Prevention of Unlawful Activities Act 1967. He has also been fined Rs 10,000.

Adithya Rao had planted the bomb in the Mangaluru International Airport on January 20, 2020. The authorities got the bomb detected and disposed it of the same day.

The police department had launched a hunt for the accused. The development had led to many speculations and created tension all over the state.

However, the convict Aditya Rao surrendered himself at the Director General and Inspector General office.

He has been in jail since then. Rao, a resident of Manipal in Udupi district, had pleaded guilty before the court.

Even though the accused pleaded guilty, the court by exercising discretion under section 229 of CrPC had invited the prosecution to prove charges levelled against the accused.

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News Network
November 30,2025

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Mangaluru, Nov 30: A 22-year-old college student succumbed to her injuries at a private hospital in Mangaluru today, days after she was hit by a goods tempo while crossing a road in Padubidri.

The deceased has been identified as Preksha, a resident of Nadsalu Billitota in Padubidri. The fatal incident occurred as Preksha, who was returning home after completing her examination, attempted to cross the service road towards Mangaluru. She was struck by a goods tempo approaching from the Udupi side, causing her to fall and sustain a severe head injury.

Prompt action from local residents ensured she received immediate first aid before being rushed to a hospital in Mangaluru for specialised treatment. Despite medical efforts, she passed away while undergoing care.

Preksha was a student at Karavali College, Vamanjoor on the outskirts of Mangaluru city. The tragedy is compounded by the fact that she belonged to a financially vulnerable family, having previously lost her father. She is survived by her mother and brother.

A case related to the accident has been registered at the Padubidri police station, and an investigation is underway to determine the exact circumstances that led to the collision. The incident highlights the growing concerns over road safety, particularly on busy service roads, and serves as a tragic reminder of the human cost of traffic accidents.

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News Network
December 2,2025

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Bengaluru: 'Nati koli saaru' (country chicken curry) considered one of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s favourites along with steaming hot idlis was on the breakfast menu at Deputy CM D K Shivakumar’s residence on Tuesday, according to official sources.

The spread also included 'nati koli' fry, vada and pongal, among other items, they said.

In an apparent show of unity, Siddaramaiah visited Shivakumar’s residence for breakfast, just days after the two leaders shared a meal amid a simmering power tussle in the state Congress.

Siddaramaiah drove to the Deputy CM’s residence in Sadashivanagar, where he was received by Shivakumar and his brother D K Suresh, who is a former Congress MP.

Suresh and Kunigal MLA H D Ranganath, a relative of Shivakumar, joined them for breakfast, which featured a mix of vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes.

Speaking to reporters later, Siddaramaiah said Shivakumar had invited him during his visit to the CM’s residence for breakfast on Saturday.

Asked about the difference between the two meals, the chief minister said, "At his (Shivakumar’s) house it was non-veg, while at my house it was veg. He is a vegetarian, I am a non-vegetarian. I had not prepared non-veg. I told DK to get chicken from the village as you won’t get the original in Bengaluru."

Shivakumar said he had initially invited Siddaramaiah to his residence, but the CM had suggested visiting his place first and reciprocating later. "It was a vegetarian breakfast at the CM’s house on Saturday," he noted.

"Today, I invited him (the CM) to my house. He enjoyed the breakfast, which had his Mysuru taste," Shivakumar added. At this point, Siddaramaiah remarked that Shivakumar’s wife is also from Mysuru.

Saturday’s breakfast at Siddaramaiah’s official residence, held as part of efforts by the Congress high command to ease tensions in the leadership dispute between the two, reportedly included idlis and sambar, according to official sources.

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News Network
December 5,2025

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New Delhi, Dec 5: IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers issued a public apology this evening after more than a thousand flights were cancelled today, making it the "most severely impacted day" in terms of cancellations. The biggest airline of the country cancelled "more than half" of its daily number of flights on Friday, said Elbers. He also said that even though the crisis will persist on Saturday, the airline anticipates fewer than 1,000 flight cancellations.

"Full normalisation is expected between December 10 and 15, though IndiGo cautions that recovery will take time due to the scale of operations," the IndiGo CEO said. 

IndiGo operates around 2,300 domestic and international flights daily.

Pieter Elbers, while apologising for the major inconvenience due to delays and cancellations, said the situation is a result of various causes.

The crisis at IndiGo stems from new regulations that boost pilots' weekly rest requirements by 12 hours to 48 and allow only two night-time landings per week, down from six. IndiGo has attributed the mass cancellations to "misjudgment and planning gaps".

Elbers also listed three lines of action that the airline will adopt to address the issue.

"Firstly, customer communication and addressing your needs, for this, messages have been sent on social media. And just now, a more detailed communication with information, refunds, cancellations and other customer support measures was sent," he said.

The airline has also stepped up its call centre capacity.

"Secondly, due to yesterday's situation, we had customers stranded mostly at the nation's largest airports. Our focus was for all of them to be able to travel today itself, which will be achieved. For this, we also ask customers whose flights are cancelled not to come to the airports as notifications are sent," the CEO said.

"Thirdly, cancellations were made for today to align our crew and planes to be where they need to start tomorrow morning afresh. Earlier measures of the last few days, regrettable, have proven not to be enough, but we have decided today to reboot all our systems and schedules, resulting in the highest numbers of cancellations so far, but imperative for progressive improvements starting from tomorrow," he added.

As airports witnessed chaotic scenes, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) stepped in to grant IndiGo a temporary exemption from stricter night duty rules for pilots. It also allowed substitution of leaves with a weekly rest period. 

Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu has said a high-level inquiry will be ordered and accountability will be fixed.

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