Mind your chats or pay a heavy price
Aditya Verma, a British-Indian student, can hardly be faulted for thinking two F-18s flanking his flight to Menorca in Spain were holding an exercise in the wake of the Russia-Ukraine war. But then, maybe he can be.
Pre-boarding, he joked with buddies on Snapchat of an intent to blow up the plane as a Taliban member. The context of his jest was his appearance, but eavesdropping security authorities in the UK were not amused; they alerted the Spanish, who scrambled those jets.
This was back in mid-2022, and Verma, who was arrested on landing, has still not been able to extricate himself from his legal entanglement. A police search of his phone revealed research of clashes between India and Pakistan and potential Islamic State attacks in the region, but nothing to link him with jihadist radicalism.
Back in the UK, intelligence officers grilled him too. He now awaits a ruling from a Spanish court and faces a fine of up to €22,500, while Spain wants €95,000 in compensation for expenses.
After 9/11, most air travellers learnt not to use alarm-triggering words, but it seems younger generations did not fully get the memo. As for the privacy of private chats, well, welcome to the real world.
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