Security at the New Delhi IGI Airport was scaled up after a local hotel received a call about a bomb threat to half-a-dozen flights. However, airport sources said the call had been declared a hoax.
Security at the New Delhi IGI Airport was scaled up after a local hotel received a call about a bomb threat to half-a-dozen flights. However, airport sources said the call had been declared a hoax.
The Bomb Threat Assessment Committee (BTAC) had checked whether the call was specific or non-specific and sources said it was found to be “non-specific”. Airport sources said some of the flights mentioned by the anonymous caller did not exist.
“The call was made to a hotel in Paschim Vihar (West Delhi) at around 3 pm with the anonymous caller saying that bombs have been planted on six flights,” sources said.
The information was passed on to the security agencies concerned, including the CISF and the Delhi police, sources said.
In the last one week, several such calls have been received by various airlines, impacting flight operations at several airports in the country.
Panic had gripped passengers at the IGI Airport last week after a Jet Airways call centre received threats about bombs on five of its aircraft that had departed or were about to depart from here, hours after blasts ripped through Brussels airport.
On March 23, there was a major security scare at several airports in the country, including the national capital, following a phone call from the United States saying that 11 aircraft of the private carrier IndiGo could be blown up. But all calls were found to be part of a hoax.
According to news agencies, on the day of the Holi festival on Thursday, security on Air India’s flights was stepped up after the airline’s Mumbai office received threats about the presence of bombs on its planes.
