British-Indian man who threatened to blow up plane acquitted by Spanish court
London, Jan 28: A Spanish court has acquitted a British-Indian man of public disorder after he joked to friends about being a member of the Taliban and planning to blow up a flight from London's Gatwick to Menorca in Spain in 2022.
Aditya Verma admitted to telling his friends in July 2022: "On my way to blow up the plane. I'm a member of the Taliban."
He however said he had made the joke in a private Snapchat group and never intended to "cause public distress", the BBC reported.
A judge in Madrid ruled on Friday that "no explosive... was found that would lead one to believe it was a real threat".
The judge at the trial, held at the National Court in the Spanish capital, on Monday - a year-and-a-half after the incident took place -- ruled that Verma, of Orpington, Kent, should be cleared of any wrongdoing.
The message he sent to friends, before boarding the plane, went on to be picked up by UK security services. They then flagged it to Spanish authorities while the easyJet plane was still in the air.
Two Spanish F-18 fighter jets were sent to flank the aircraft. One followed the plane until it landed at Menorca, where the plane was searched.
Verma, who was 18 at the time, was arrested and held in a Spanish police cell for two days. He was later released on bail.
If he had been found guilty, the university student faced a fine of up to 22,500 euros and a further 95,000 euros in expenses to cover the cost of the jets being scrambled.
A key question in the case was how the message got out, considering Snapchat is an encrypted app.
One theory, raised in the trial, was that it could have been intercepted via Gatwick's Wi-Fi network. But a spokesperson for the airport told BBC News that its network "does not have that capability".
The judge in the resolution said that the message, "for unknown reasons, was captured by the security mechanisms of England when the plane was flying over French airspace".
The message was made "in a strictly private environment between the accused and his friends with whom he flew, through a private group to which only they have access, so the accused could not even remotely assume... that the joke he played on his friends could be intercepted or detected by the British services, nor by third parties other than his friends who received the message," the judgement added.
It was not immediately clear how UK authorities were alerted to the message, with the judge noting "they were not the subject of evidence in this trial".
A spokesperson for Snapchat said the social media platform would not "comment on what's happened in this individual case".
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Sanjay Raut demands re-election, alleges irregularities in EVMs during Maharashtra polls
Mumbai, Nov 25: Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Monday demanded a re-election in Maharashtra using ballot papers, claiming there were irregularities with the electronic voting machines (EVMs).
Talking to reporters, Raut alleged several complaints about EVMs malfunctioning and questioned the integrity of the recently held elections.
The BJP-led Mahayuti won 230 out of 288 seats in the assembly elections, while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi managed 46 seats, with Shiv Sena (UBT) winning just 20 out of 95 seats it contested.
"We have received nearly 450 complaints regarding EVMs. Despite raising objections repeatedly, no action has been taken on these issues. How can we say these elections were conducted fairly? Hence, I demand that the results be set aside and elections be held again using ballot papers," Raut said.
Citing some instances, he said a candidate in Nashik reportedly received only four votes despite having 65 votes from his family, while in Dombivli, discrepancies were found in EVM tallies, and election officials refused to acknowledge the objections.
The Sena (UBT) leader also questioned the credibility of the landslide victories of some candidates, saying, "What revolutionary work have they done to receive more than 1.5 lakh votes? Even leaders who recently switched parties have become MLAs. This raises suspicions. For the first time, a senior leader like Sharad Pawar has expressed doubts about EVMs, which cannot be ignored."
Asked about the MVA's poor performance in the elections, Raut rejected the idea of blaming a single individual.
"We fought as a united MVA. Even a leader like Sharad Pawar, who commands immense respect in Maharashtra, faced defeat. This shows that we need to analyse the reasons behind the failure. One of the reasons is EVM irregularities and the misuse of the system, unconstitutional practices, and even judicial decisions left unresolved by Justice Chandrachud," he said.
Raut stressed that though internal differences might have existed within the MVA, the failure was collective.
He also accused the Mahayuti of conducting the elections in an unfair manner.
"I cannot call the elections fair given the numerous reports of discrepancies in EVMs, mismatched numbers, and vote irregularities across the state," Raut said.
