Irked over consecutive hoax calls that grounded, minutes before departure, two Kathmandu-bound flights on Wednesday, the Delhi police has filed a case under relevant sections in connection with the matter.
Confirming the FIR, deputy commissioner of police, Indira Gandhi International Airport, D.K. Gupta said: “The FIR was registered late Wednesday night and a team has been formed to track down the caller. Further investigation is underway.”
“All the four calls were made through voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) and from preliminary investigation it has emerged that the caller was the same in each case,” Mr Gupta added.
The police had received four calls — two at the DCP’s office and two at IGIA police station — claiming bombs had been placed in cabin baggage on the said flights.
The Air India and Jet Airways flights that were grounded were scheduled to take off for the Nepalese capital at 1.15 pm and 1.30 pm, respectively. “The calls were received at 1.05 pm and 1.10 pm on Wednesday. The two aircraft were taken to the isolation bay, where personnel from the bomb disposal squad carried out an extensive search of the baggage and check-in luggage of the passengers,” the DCP said.
Meanwhile, the cops refused to divulge the identity of the caller who claimed to have spotted a balloon-like object hovering over the IGI Airport on Wednesday afternoon. “We have got some leads, but are not sure of the identity yet and will be able to share anything once concrete evidence is with us,” said the senior police officer, adding, “If the call in this case will be found to be a hoax, similar action would be taken.”
The police said that till now, no one from any department of the security establishment has been able to corroborate the sighting of the balloon at any time during the day.
