Suspect in Mangaluru airport bomb case surrenders

A 36-year-old man, who is suspected to have planted the explosive at the Mangaluru Intentional Airport, surrendered before the police here on Wednesday, officials said. The suspect has been identified as Adithya Rao, a native of Manipal, police said, adding that he resembled the one captured on CCTV footage at Mangaluru airport The man turned up at the DG and IGP office here in the morning, where he was detained and taken for medical tests and preliminary inquiry done, they said.

The suspect confessed to having planted the bomb at the airport, police said. He is reported to have got information on making the explosive via the internet, sources said.

"One suspect named Adithya presented before police between 8-9 am, claiming that he was responsible for Mangaluru incident--he will be handed over to Mangaluru police team for further investigation..," Bengaluru (Central)DCPChetan Singh Rathore told reporters earlier in the day. A team of police officials, led by an Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) from Mangaluru arrived in the city later to question the suspect and carry out necessary legal procedures.

Police sources said, Rao, an engineering graduate and an MBA holder, who was taken to Ulsoor Gate police station in Bengaluru for questioning, was subsequently handed over to Mangaluru police, which is investigating the case. He was presented before the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM) court here and transit warrant secured, officials said, adding that he will be produced before a court in Mangaluru on Thursday to obtain his custody.

Police are taking Rao to Mangaluru via air. The suspect reportedly traveled using different routes and modes to reach Bengaluru on Tuesday night, sources said.

State Home Minister Basavaraj Bommi said police's "hot pursuit" forced him to surrender before the police. "Inquiry is on about his background or association with any organizations, and reason for his act.

An investigation is also on regarding the materials used for the explosive, how he was able to make it and where he got them," he told reporters here. Speaking to reporters at Belagavi later, Bommai said Rao was disappointed, unable to find a proper job He had earlier been arrested for making a hoax bomb call to Bengaluru airport in 2018 and was jailed for six months, sources said.

This was an act of revenge as he was denied the job of a security guard at the Bengaluru International Airport which he had applied for due to lack of certain documents, they said. Rao had come to Bengaluru in 2012 seeking a job and landed one in a private bank, which he resigned.

He then returned to Mangaluru, where he worked as a security guard for six months and then as a cook in Puthige Mutt in Udupi. Later, he went back to Bengaluru and joined an insurance company, which he left and tried to become a security staff at the airport, the sources said.

A 'live' explosive device was found in an unattended bag near a ticket counter of the departure gate of the international airport in Mangaluru on Monday and later defused at a nearby open ground.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)