Scare over 'explosive' in passenger's baggage at Mangaluru airport

Mangaluru: A false alarm over the presence of an 'explosive' in the baggage of a passenger sent the security staff into a tizzy at the Mangaluru airport on Tuesday.

"As the security scanner gave an alarm when the passenger passed through the security gate with cabin baggage, he was detained. A search of his bag found an assembled power bank to charge his cell phone," Mangalore Police Commissioner T.R. Suresh told IANS on phone.

The passenger was booked to fly in budget carrier Indigo to Bengaluru where he was to take a connecting flight to Dubai later in the night.

"As devices like power bank are not allowed in the luggage, the passenger kept it in his hand baggage. Being locally assembled, it appeared to be an IED for the Central Industrial Security Force men, who checked it again," he added.

The passenger was later allowed to board the flight but the device was seized.

Confirming the incident, an Indigo official said later that its security staff alerted the CISF after the passenger was suspected to be carrying a "cell phone bomb".