Techie arrested for making hoax bomb threat call to delay Air India flight

News Network

February 26, 2019

Bengaluru, Feb 26: The police have arrested a software engineer who allegedly made a threat call to the Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru, saying a bomb had been placed in the aircraft.

Preliminary investigation revealed that the 49-year-old to delay the Air India flight from Bengaluru to Surat on Monday evening after he missed the boarding.

But Air India staff and CISF officials sanitised the flight before declaring the threat a hoax and detained the techie, Prateek Rathore Mahesh Bhai, before he could board the flight.

Prateek was from Surat and had come to Bengaluru on Sunday with his wife and son to attend a wedding. Slated to take a 7pm flight back home, the family reached KIA late and found that boarding had been closed.

Prateek walked out of the terminal building. Around 6.57pm, the KIA got a threat call. Air India staff and CISF personnel suspected that Praeek could be behind the call as he had just walked out of the terminal building. CCTV footage showed Prateek speaking on his phone at the exact time when the threat call was made.

Airport police swung into action and took Prateek into custody. Police sources said Prateek hoped he could catch the flight if he could delay its departure.

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Mangaluru’s ₹1,200 crore fix: Massive sewage overhaul to end city’s drainage woes

News Network

December 19,2025

Mangaluru: In a decisive move to tackle the city’s deteriorating sanitation infrastructure, the Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC) has announced a massive ₹1,200 crore action plan to overhaul its underground drainage (UGD) network.

The initiative, spearheaded by Deputy Commissioner and MCC Administrator Darshan HV, aims to bridge "missing links" in the current system that have left residents grappling with overflowing sewage and environmental hazards.

The Breaking Point

The announcement follows a high-intensity phone-in session on Thursday, where the DC was flooded with grievances from frustrated citizens. Residents, including Savithri from Yekkur, described a harrowing reality: raw sewage from apartments leaking into stormwater drains, creating a "permanent stink" and turning residential zones into mosquito breeding grounds.

"We are facing immense difficulties due to the stench and the health risks. Local officials have remained silent until now," one resident reported during the session.

The Strategy: A Six-Year Vision

DC Darshan HV confirmed that the proposed plan is not a temporary patch but a comprehensive six-year roadmap designed to accommodate Mangaluru’s projected population growth. Key highlights of the plan include:

• Infrastructure Expansion: Laying additional pipelines to connect older neighborhoods to the main grid.

• STP Crackdown: Stricter enforcement of Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) regulations. While new apartments are required to have functional STPs, many older buildings lack them entirely, and several newer units are reportedly non-functional.

• Budgetary Push: The plan has already been discussed with the district in-charge minister and the Secretary of the Urban Development Department. It is slated for formal presentation in the upcoming state budget.

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