Student facing $125,000 fine after bomb joke scrambles fighter jets

A British student is facing a fine of up to €22,500 ($24,500) after what he thought would be a throwaway joke went badly wrong. Aditya Verma was on his way to Menorca with friends, when he sent a message on Snapchat reading, ‘On my way to blow up the plane (I’m a member of the Taliban)’. You can see how this might have possibly been misinterpreted. Verma’s post was picked up by Gatwick Airport, with UK officials alerting Spanish authorities, who scrambled two Spanish fighter jets to follow the plane. Verma was arrested and later questioned by British intelligence personnel, where he was forced to explain that he wasn’t the Taliban, he was just an idiot. ‘It was just sent to my friends I was traveling with on the day,’ said Verma, clearly not expecting his private messages to be picked up by MI6, because why would you. Verna will be spared jail if found guilty of public disorder but will face a hefty fine, with the Spanish defense ministry also seeking €95,000 ($103,000) in expenses.