Mangaluru, March 17: A Karnataka court has awarded 20 years of imprisonment to the accused who had planted bomb at the Mangaluru International Airport in 2020.

The Fourth Additional District and Session's Court Judge B.R. Pallavi has convicted Adithya Rao (37), the accused in the case. He was found guilty under Section 4 of the Explosive Substances Act 1908 and Section 16 of the Prevention of Unlawful Activities Act 1967. He has also been fined Rs 10,000.

Though the verdict had been given on March 11, the judgment has been made available on Wednesday. Kalpana Chawla Birth Anniversary: Political Parties Pay Tributes to The First Woman Astronaut of Indian Origin.

Rao, a resident of Manipal in Udupi district, on January 20, 2020 had kept the improvised explosive in a black bag near the departure gate at Mangaluru International Airport. The authorities have got the bomb detected and disposed it off on the same day.

The police department had launched a hunt for the accused. The development had led to many speculations and created tension all over the state. However, Rao had surrendered himself at the Director General and Inspector General office claiming that he is the one who had planted bomb in the airport.

He had been jailed since then.

Rao had pleaded guilty before the court and had refused any legal help proposed by the court, claiming that he would argue for himself.

The accused had earlier given a hoax call that there is a bomb in Bengaluru International Airport for which he was jailed for 1 year. He had done it after failing to secure a job as a security officer.

The accused had developed hatred towards the government and with this hatred he committed the offence, the court stated.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 17, 2022 10:24 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).