Is man who placed fake hijack note aboard Jet Airways flight a serial hoaxer?

After Mumbai-based businessman throws up differing theories for placing the fake terror note on a Jet flight, security agencies suspect him of being behind unsolved Jan '16 terror hoax

After catching city-based businessman Birju Kishor Salla for placing a hoax hijack note on a Jet Airways flight, security establishments in Mumbai and Gujarat are now investigating whether he was also behind another similar hoax that occurred in January last year, where a terror strike was threatened at Mumbai airport on Republic Day through an anonymous letter.

Birju Salla (trying to cover his face) was brought to the city in the wee hours of Tuesday

Cops have grown even more suspicious of his involvement since he has given two different theories for committing Monday's hoax. Ahmedabad crime branch sources have said since Salla has a history of indulging in such activities, investigators will dig into all of his past incidents.

The Shreepati Arcade building in Tardeo, where Salla and his family reside. Pics/Pradeep Dhivar

Case undetected
An official from the branch said Salla's involvement is being checked in the January 2016 matter, where a terror strike was threatened before Republic Day. That case remains unsolved to this day.

Salla was arrested on Monday after he planted a note in the business class toilet of the Mumbai-New Delhi flight to allegedly spite his girlfriend, who works for the airline. His hoax letter was written in Urdu and English, threatening a plane hijack and a bomb. The flight, with 122 passengers and seven crew, was diverted to Ahmedabad.

During preliminary probe, it was revealed that Salla, who is also a platinum card-holding frequent flier, was the only person to have visited the washroom in the business class section. He was nabbed on suspicion, and during questioning, admitted to the offence.

Misleading probe
Another Ahmedabad crime branch official said Salla is trying to mislead the investigators by coming up with multiple theories; but none of them make any sense. "He claimed that he wished to buy a royal airline and wanted his girlfriend, a Delhi-based employee of Jet Airways, to leave her job. But since she could not quit her job, he decided to tarnish the airline's image so that it would shut and planted the terror threat letter in the toilet," said an official.

For his other reason, Salla told cops he committed the crime as he was suffering from depression after being unable to arrange chartered flights for the wedding of his friend's daughter.

"We have come across two theories which triggered this incident. Though he claimed he did this to harm reputation of the airline, neither did he have any recent altercation, nor did he threaten or show any signs of one," the officer added.

Seized material
Deepak Bhadran, DCP (crime), Ahmedabad police said, "Since we need to seek more police custody to interrogate him, we are first collecting evidence. Our team has seized the material used in committing the crime from his Mumbai office. We will be probing the case and verifying all his claims."

After being arrested on Monday night, Salla was brought to Mumbai in the wee hours of Tuesday. His family, which lives in the Shreepati Arcade high-rise in upscale Tardeo is said to have left the residence as soon as they got wind of his arrest.

"Birju lived with his mother, wife and two kids on the 15th floor. They left yesterday [Monday] evening for Ahmedabad as soon as cops informed them about his arrest," said a resident. "Birju is a family man, always smiling and friendly. I can't figure out why he did such a bizarre thing," the resident added.

Jewellery shop searched
The Ahmedabad police team also searched the jewellery shop owned by Birju at Zaveri Bazar. "We have seized a laptop, pen drive and printer from his office. We need to interrogate him at length," said Dr. Rajdeep Singh Zala, ACP Crime, Ahmedabad police, adding, "We will take him back to Ahmedabad on Tuesday night."

"The accused had used these materials for drafting and printing the letter. He must have used Google translate to convert the text into a different script," said an officer from team. Salla has been booked under section (4) (b) of the Anti-hijacking Act, 2015, said DCP Bhadran. The Ahmedabad police are also in touch with the National Investigation Agency, which may take over the case.