Man takes off before take-off

Once again, on Saturday, there was fright before flight at the airport. And triggering it was Mohammed Karim, a 22-year-old Mumbra-based fruit seller.

Karim was scheduled to board the 5:30am SpiceJet flight to Hyderabad on Saturday. As the airline bus was transporting him from the terminal to the aircraft, Karim jumped off it and started running, with security officials hot on his heels.

He was finally apprehended near the apron area (aircraft parking zone), and it was found that he was travelling on a ticket booked under a different name.

Confirming the incident, senior commandant of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) Sanjay Prakash told DNA, “The man was reportedly travelling with six associates. Preliminary inquiries revealed that he had got into a verbal altercation with them, and decided not to travel together by the same flight.”

Additional commissioner of police (West) Bipin Bihari said: “The group of seven, including Karim, were travelling to Hyderabad apparently to meet a Muslim cleric. We have found that Karim was travelling on a ticket booked in the name of Rustom Farid. He has been arrested, and is likely to be interrogated by the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS).”

Bihari, too, said that Karim got off the bus following an altercation with his acquaintances travelling by the same plane.

The fact that Karim was travelling under a false name has put Mumbai police on a high alert. They will dispatch a team to Hyderabad to locate the six other passengers. Also, they will be searching for the travel agent, who booked the tickets for Karim and his associates.