Days after 10 IndiGo flights received bomb threats that later turned out to be a hoax six more flights received a bomb scare after a threat call was received at a local hotel on Sunday.
Following the threat, security at the Indira Gandhi International Airport was scaled up. In the last one week several such calls have been received by various airlines, impacting flight operations at several airports in the country.
“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, including one on a Jet Airways plane,” a source said.
“Some of the flights mentioned by the anonymous caller do not exist,” the source said.
The Bomb Threat Assessment Committee (BTAC) immediately sprung into action and checked whether the call was specific or non-specific, said the source, adding that operations at IGIA remained “absolutely normal”.
The information was passed on to the security agencies concerned, including the CISF and the Delhi Police, said the source, adding that “BTAC meeting is underway to check to whether it is a specific or non-specific call.”
Panic had gripped passengers at IGIA on March 22 after the Jet Airways call centre received threats about bombs on five of its aircraft that had departed or were to depart from here, hours after blasts ripped through Brussels airport, killing over 30.
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 US that 11 aircraft of private carrier IndiGo could be in the danger of being blown up.
On Holi on March 24, security on Air India’s flights was stepped up after the airline’s Mumbai office received threats about presence of bombs on its planes.