Mumbai-bound flight delayed after flyer raises alarm over co-passenger’s text message

A couple was detained and questioned for hours on Sunday at the Mangalore airport after a co-passenger, having peeked into the man’s phone to read private texts between the two, raised an alarm before the word “bomber” was mentioned in their conversation.

The man was on IndiGo’s flight 6E-5327, headed to Mumbai, while his partner was scheduled to board a different flight to Bengaluru when the man’s co-passenger on the plane raised an alarm.

“A female passenger glanced at her co-passenger’s phone and panicked after reading the word bomber while he was chatting with his female friend. She approached the staff and the aircraft had to be taken to the isolation bay of the airport for further enquiries,” a Mangalore airport official said, asking not to be named.