A British-Indian student is currently on trial in Spain after being charged with public disorder after making jokes about blowing up a plane while on a trip with his companions in a Snapchat message. Aditya Verma, the student, is not being charged with terrorism or facing jail time nonetheless, if proven guilty, he could be fined 22,500 euros (about Rs 20.35 lakh).According to the sources, the incident happened when Verma was on his way to Spains Menorca island with his friends on an easyJet flight in July 2022, when, before boarding the flight, he sent the message, saying, On my way to blow up the plane (Im a member of the Taliban).While the easyJet plane was in the air, UK security services picked up Vermas message on the Wi-Fi network at Gatwick and reported it to Spanish police.During the preliminary investigation, Verma, a Bath University economics student, stated he had no desire to hurt or upset anyone in public during a trial in a Madrid court. The court was informed that two Spanish F-18 fighter jets were scrambled after officials received the menacing letter. The 18-year-old Verma was told in court that he had been detained for two days in a police cell before being released on bond. Later, British intelligence questioned the student.When asked about the reason of this message, Verma replied that since his childhood, he had the habit of throwing jokes so just wanted to make people laugh.Police told the court that they had investigated Vermas phone and discovered that he had looked up incidents involving India and Pakistan as well as the likelihood of an attack in that region by the terrorist organisation Islamic State. Officials, however, were unable to discover any connection between Verma and extremist Islamist ideology.Meanwhile, the Spanish Defence Ministry has demanded for the expenses in Vermas case which comes to almost Rs 85 lakh). Reports also claim the verdict in the case is expected in some days.
