TAWAU, Sept 24 — Police detained a Chinese couple on Monday for allegedly sending a threatening email claiming that there was a bomb on a Tawau to Kuala Lumpur flight.
Tawau police chief ACP Jasmin Hussin said the suspects, aged 28 and 29, were arrested at a hotel in Semporna at 8pm yesterday.
“Preliminary investigations revealed that one of the suspects admitted to sending the false message via the official application of an airline company.
“The reason given was that their desire to receive a response from the airline as they wished to change their seats on their flight to Kuala Lumpur before transiting to Beijing,” he said in a statement here yesterday.
Jasmin said the suspects claimed they read a Chinese news portal stating that the quickest way to get a response from an airline was to file a threatening complaint.
“The threat email was sent to the airline’s headquarters in Kuala Lumpur at about 11.30pm on September 20, and the information was then relayed to the airline’s security team at Tawau Airport,” he said.
Jasmin added that the suspects are being investigated under Sections 506 and 505(b) of the Penal Code, as well as Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998. The Consulate General of the People’s Republic of China has been notified of their detention. — Bernama
