Following the request by Mangaluru Police to help identify the suspect who placed a bag containing explosives at Mangaluru International Airport on January 20, the Commissionerate has received many videos and pictures resembling the suspect, said PS Harsha, Mangaluru Police Commissioner.

He said that the police is closely verifying the materials sent by the public in this matter. He said that a middle-aged man, who had concealed his identity by wearing a cap, had come to the airport in an autorickshaw on Monday, and placed a bag containing explosives near the ticket booking counter of the airport. His image was captured in the CCTV footage of the airport.

Later, the explosive was defused by personnel from the bomb disposal and detection squad (BDDS) of the police department.

Investigations are in progress to identify the autorickshaw driver, who brought the suspect to the airport.

Later in the afternoon, the airport terminal manager received a call from an unidentified person who said there was a bomb in a particular aircraft. After thorough checking of the aircraft concerned, the call was found to be a hoax.

Harsha said that the police were investigating whether this call/caller had any link with the explosive material placed at the airport. Apart from this, the police is also verifying the faces of the persons who made hoax calls to other airports in the country. Information is being collected from other airports in this regard.

He said the BDDS has sent the contents of the explosive material, which was defused on Monday, to the forensic laboratory for further analysis. However, officials in the squad feel that it was a crude explosive, he said.

Operations at the international airport are going on as usual and there is no need to worry, he said.

Stating that the police is investigating from all possible angles, Harsha hoped that they would soon be able to arrest the suspects in this case.

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