Jet passenger arrested for terror talk, offloaded in Kolkata airport

Kolkata : A passenger of Jet Airways was taken off plane in Kolkata airport and arrested with immediate effect today after he was seen sending a photo of a masked man on Snapchat with a threatening comment that raised tension among crew and other flyers. 

The Jet Airways flight 9W 472, going to Mumbai, was taxiing on the runway for take-off at 8:15 am when a passenger saw the man posting the photo with the words "terrorist, destroy".

The tensed passenger then rushed to one of the flight attendants, who went to the cockpit and alerted the pilots about a possible threat to the aircraft.

"The pilot reported the matter to the ATC (air-traffic controller)," an airport official said.

The plane rejected take-off and returned to the parking bay at Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport.

The accused passenger, Yogvedanta Poddar, was arrested by the Central Industrial Security Force and handed over to the police for questioning. He is a resident of Salt Lake in northeast Kolkata. The police said they have been on high alert today as the country remembers the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks.

PTI source confirms that Yogvedanta was flying to Mumbai for a job interview.

Investigation is under process and cops are looking at his antecedents to determine if he was a threat. His family has been called to the police station. The man's father reportedly said his son was simply "fooling around" with his friends.