Indian-Origin Man Faces Legal Trouble in Spain for Plane Threat Remark| Oneindia News

Oneindia

Aditya Verma, a British student, faces trial in Spain for causing public disorder after joking about blowing up a flight on Snapchat. The incident led to Spanish Air Force jets being deployed. Verma defended the message as a private group joke, expressing no intent to cause public distress. If found guilty, substantial expenses may be incurred.    #IndianOriginMan #Britishnews #UKnews #Spainnews #Taliban #Worldnews #Oneindia #Oneindianews                  ~HT.292~GR.125~PR.274~ED.101~

Transcript

00:00 A mere joke has become a trouble for the Indian-origin man in Spain.

00:07 Reportedly, a trial is underway for Aditya Verma, a British man accused of causing public

00:13 disorder by making a joke about blowing up a flight.

00:18 The incident occurred in July 2022 while Verma was travelling from Menorca with friends.

00:24 The Snapchat message, sent from Gatwick Airport, read, "On my way to blow up the plane.

00:29 I am a member of the Taliban."

00:31 Verma has defended himself in the Madrid court, stating that intention was never to cause

00:36 public distress or harm.

00:38 However, if he is found guilty, the student could face substantial expenses as the Spanish

00:44 Air Force jets were deployed in response to the message.

00:47 The UK security services detected Verma's message and alerted Spanish authorities while

00:52 the easy jet plane was in the air.

00:55 The interception, assumed to occur through the Gatwick's Wi-Fi network, led to two Spanish

01:00 F-18 fighter jets flanking the aircraft.

01:03 One jet closely trailed the plane until it landed in Menorca, where an extensive search

01:08 took place.

01:09 Verma, aged 18 at the time, was arrested, spending two days in police custody before

01:14 being released on bail.

01:16 Upon returning to the UK, he underwent questioning by British intelligence authorities too.

01:21 Appearing in court, Verma, now a student of economics at Bath University, has explained

01:27 that the message was intended as a joke within the private group.

01:31 He emphasized that it was sent to friends he was traveling with on that day, intending

01:36 to make them laugh.

01:38 And when questioned about the fighter jets, Verma stated that considering the Russia-Ukraine

01:42 war, he thought that it was a mere military exercise related to the war.

01:46 The plane's pilot also reportedly made an announcement attributing the fighter jets

01:50 to a distress signal sent by mistake.

01:53 The police has informed the court that they are examining Verma's phone but have found

01:57 no evidence of linking them to jihadist radicalism.

02:00 Although he had researched clashes on Pakistan and India and the possibilities of an Islamic

02:05 State attack in the area, there was nothing of interest regarding Verma's connect to

02:09 the extremist ideologies.

02:11 [MUSIC]

Category

Transcript

Recommended