Muslim Man Arrested In Australia For Threatening To Bomb Malaysia Airlines Flight

The Malaysia Airlines flight MH122 from Australia to Malaysia returned to Sydney Airport when 45-year-old Canberra resident Muhammad Arif claimed to have explosives on board.

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The Australian Police has arrested a 45-year-old Canberra resident Muhammad Arif for threatening to blow up a plane during a flight from Australia to Malaysia, reported AP. The incident took place on Monday, after the Malaysia Airlines flight MH122 returned to Sydney Airport when Arif became disruptive and claimed to have explosives on board. A video of the alleged incident is going viral on social media platforms like Twitter. The police arrested Arif on Monday, three hours after the flight landed in Australia and charged him on Tuesday with making a false statement about a threat to damage an aircraft and failing to comply with the cabin crew’s safety instructions.

As per the reports, the airliner left Sydney on Monday with 199 passengers and 12 crew on a scheduled eight-hour flight to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia. One of the passengers, Velutha Parambath, said Arif had drawn attention to himself before takeoff by praying aloud. “At that point, we just thought he was praying for everyone. People just generally had a laugh,” AP quoted Parambath, who was seated five rows behind Arif.

But half an hour into the flight, Arif became louder, stood up and started pushing and shoving passengers, Parambath said. The man implied that he had explosives in a backpack, “I don’t think he specifically said ‘bomb.’ But he was carrying his bag and he said, ‘I’ve got power in my arms,’” said Parambath, who was traveling with his wife and three children.

Malaysia Airlines said the pilot decided to return to Sydney for safety reasons. The passengers’ concerns escalated after they landed and spent almost three hours in the plane on the tarmac. “All we saw were fire engines surrounding us and again people reading the news saying there’s potentially a bomb on the plane,” Parambath said.]

New South Wales Police Commissioner Karen Webb defended the delay between when the plane landed and when two police officers handcuffed Arif. “We can never presume anything and you don’t know whether this person was acting alone or he actually had other support on the plane or outside the plane,” Webb said.

The chrarges carry a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a fine of more than 15,000 Australian dollars ($7,300) respectively.