The airport police have apprehended a 36-year-old man who made calls to Chennai airport, claiming Pakistan-trained terrorists would attack the terminal.
The police said he is a habitual offender who has been booked on earlier occasions too, including in 2007, when he claimed a bomb would go off at Tiruchi airport.
Abdul Karim, a resident of Thittachery in Nagapattinam district, made two telephone calls to the office of the manager of Chennai airport on Monday and Wednesday.
“The first time, he identified himself as Stephen from Bangalore, and threatened that Pakistani terrorists would blow up the place,” said an investigating officer.
During the second call, on Wednesday, Karim claimed to be Akhtar, a Lashkar-e-Taiba operative in Chennai, who was on his way to the airport with nine other operatives, all carrying explosives.
The airport police registered a case and a probe revealed the phone calls originated from Nagapattinam. A special police team went to the district and narrowed down on Abdul Karim who was arrested on Friday morning. He was brought to Chennai in the evening.
Last year, Karim was arrested for making an anonymous call to the Puducherry police.
(With additional reporting by P.S. Suresh Kumar in Nagapattinam)