Safety of Civil Aviation Act court acquits hoax caller

The designated Suppression of Unlawful Acts against Safety of Civil Aviation Act (Susca) court on Wednesday acquitted an 18-year-old who was arrested in 2012 for allegedly making a hoax call on the toll-free number of the Jet Airways.

The accused, Vikas Yadav, had threatened the airline that he would hijack their plane.

Yadav, a school dropout, had made several calls to the airline toll-free helpline number between September and October, 2012.

According to the prosecution's case, the accused had threatened to hijack a plane if they fail to release Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Kasab and other arrested terror accused.

After a few days of investigation, the police arrested the accused from Vapi in Gujarat on January 20, 2013.

The first few calls were believed to be made from Vapi and one from Mumbai though SIM cards acquired on false documents. According to the police, Yadav also used his father Gorelal Yadav's SIM card for a call. Gorelal Yadav was also arrested in the case, but later let off.

When dna spoke to defence advocate Yousuf Tamboli, he said, "My arguments were based on the fact that the Saki Naka police, who had investigated the case, had no power to do so. According to the Susca law, if any person is arrested in such a case, then it is the central agency who would investigate the case."