Plane bomb hoax a 'prank': suspect

SHANGHAI - The man who allegedly made a hoax bomb threat described his deeds as a "prank," police said Tuesday.

The suspect surnamed Pu said he hoaxed the Shanghai Pudong International Airport last Friday about the "bomb onboard" just to imitate the plot of a game, said a statement issued by the Shanghai Public Security Bureau.

"It's purely a prank, and I didn't expect the consequence would be so serious," he was quoted as saying.

Pu had been detained for allegedly fabricating and spreading fake terrorism information, said the statement.

The airport received an anonymous phone call at 6:36 pm on last Friday saying that a bomb was onboard flight CA406 from Shanghai to Chengdu, capital of Sichuan province.

Over the phone, Pu required the airport to transfer 1 million yuan (159,000 US dollars) to his bank account, said the statement.

Police evacuated the passengers to inspect the plane, but found no explosive device onboard.

The flight, scheduled to take off at 6:30 pm, took off at 11:23 pm after a delay of about five hours. Many other flights on the night were also delayed.

The Shanghai police launched an investigation into the case and arrested Pu in the city of Guangyuan in Sichuan on Sunday night.