A Mumbai-bound Indigo flight was delayed by an hour on Tuesday morning as police detained a passenger at the airport here after she made a hoax bomb claim.

Airport sources said the passenger made the claim about the bomb because she was irked by the time taken for the check-in process for her Mumbai bound flight from Cochin International Airport.

The woman was handed over to the police, who registered a case against her for raising a false alarm.

The hoax bomb claim by the 37-year-old woman resulted in delaying the Mumbai-bound Indigo flight, in which she was to travel, by over an hour as the screening of baggage and security checks became more thorough, according to airport sources.

Nedumbassery police said she was booked under Section 118(b) of the Kerala Police Act and thereafter, she was released from custody. "Her arrest was not recorded," the officer added.

Section 118(b) of the Kerala Police Act provides a maximum punishment of a three-year jail term or a fine of not more than Rs 10,000 or both for causing grave violations of public order or danger by knowingly spreading rumours or raising false alarms to mislead the police, fire brigade, or any other essential service.

The incident occurred during the check-in process for a Kochi-Mumbai flight that was scheduled to take off around 6 am, the airport sources said.

The woman, irritated by the prolonged time taken, said there was a bomb in her baggage that led to the luggage screening process being intensified and, as a result, delayed the scheduled departure of the flight in which she was to travel by around an hour, sources said.

This was the second such incident reported at the airport in less than a week.

On July 28, a 55-year-old passenger had allegedly claimed that there was a bomb in the baggage of another passenger at the Cochin International Airport while waiting for the security procedure to board a flight.

"It seems like he was irritated due to the long security procedures. While waiting for the security check, he said there was a bomb in another man's baggage," Nedumbassery police had said back then.

The airport authorities, after carrying out checks, had found the man's claim to be a hoax and handed him over to the Kerala police, which later recorded his arrest and then released him on station bail.

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