A false alarm was raised after a Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel found a suspicious bag, suspected of carrying RDX at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport Terminal-3 in the early hours of Friday. It led to blockade and restrictions in the movement of passengers for a few hours. After 16 hours, the bag was claimed by a passenger. According to CISF officials, the bag contained a laptop, its charger, some toys and clothes and there was no RDX or any other explosive in the bag, which was opened in the presence of the claimant.
"The passenger, who was identified as Shahid Hussain contacted police authorities after over 16 hours of losing his bag. He said he was a part of a group of four people and had forgotten the bag outside the airport after he arrived from Mumbai on a SpiceJet plane," said the CISF official.
"The man has been handed over to the police for further probe and to unravel the entire sequence of events which prima facie looks to be a case of oversight by the passenger and his group," said the official.
"Hussain, a resident of Ballabhgarh, landed in Delhi at 12.30 am on Friday from Mumbai in a Spicejet plane. He was accompanied by his three friends. Hussain works in a steel structure company andleft he unintentionally," a senior police officer said. The entire security paraphernalia at the sensitive airport went into a tizzy after initial inputs suggested that the bag could be containing RDX. What added to the suspicion was that the place where the bag was spotted was in a "dark zone" outside the arrival terminal, where there is little CCTV coverage.
The bag was spotted by Constable VK Singh at around 1 am on Friday near the pillar number 4 of the arrival area of Terminal 3. “The CISF jawan alerted his seniors immediately. Around 1:30 am, the Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad (BDDS) team reached the spot and acted as per the standard operating procedure (SOP). X-ray images of the bag were taken by the bomb squad, which were also not clear and found doubtful,” said the senior CISF official.
“The bag was removed with the help of CISF and shifted to another place. It has not been opened yet. It seems like there are some electric wires inside it,” said Sanjay Bhatia, the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Airport unit of Delhi Police.
“The personnel of the CISF and the Delhi Police also conducted a complete anti-sabotage check of the airport after which passenger movement was allowed around 3:30 AM. The CISF and police have stepped up security at the facility in accordance with standard procedure,” said a police official. Delhi airport has three terminals. Domestic as well as international flights operate from the Terminal-3 where the bag was found.