Hoax caller held, admits killing wife
There were no terror links to the threat messages
BENGALURU: Officials of central agencies are interrogating Gokul Machery alias M.G. Gokul, who had allegedly sent hoax messages to the Kempegowda International Airport’s terminal manager threatening to blow up three flights on Friday night.
City Police commissioner N.S. Megharikh said that there were no terror links to the threat messages, but the Central agencies were questioning Gokul as the threat was serious, though hoax.
“At 1.23 am on Saturday, the terminal manager received messages on WhatsApp from a local Airtel mobile number, threatening to blow up three flights with their specific details and the airport cargo section. The messages also read, ‘Islamic state wins’ and “get ready to see the firework above sea today,” he said.
A thorough probe revealed that it was a hoax and was done to implicate a friend so that Gokul can win over the friend’s wife, police said. Giving a sinister turn, the 37-year old executive also allegedly revealed during interrogation that he had fatally assaulted his wife in July and made it appear an accidental death, police said.
During questioning, Gokul confessed that he had murdered his wife in July, police said. He had bought liquor which his wife had consumed and after a verbal argument regarding shifting back to Delhi, he pushed and assaulted her with a blunt weapon causing her death, they said. Later, Gokul told police and neighbours that his wife had slipped and hit her head on the TV stand accidentally.