The situation had not yet returned to normal after the car bomb blast near Delhi’s Red Fort metro station on November 10, when on November 12, the fear of bomb threats spread even on air travel. While Air India Express flight IX-123 received a bomb threat during flight and had to make an emergency landing in Varanasi, Indigo Airlines received threat emails at five major airports.
Bomb threat in Air India Express flight, safe landing in Varanasi
At around 6 pm, flight IX-123 (Boeing 737) going from Mumbai to Varanasi suddenly got an alert that there was a bomb in the plane.
The control room immediately instructed the pilot to keep the plane ready for emergency landing at Varanasi airport.
More than 150 passengers were evacuated safely and the aircraft was shifted to an isolation bay.
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CISF, BDDS and local police conducted a detailed search of the flight, but no explosive material was found.
Air India Express spokesperson said –
“The government Bomb Threat Assessment Committee (BTAC) was immediately informed.
The investigation is being completed as per all protocols. The aircraft and passengers are completely safe.”
The incident came to light just two days after the Red Fort blast, which sent security agencies into a panic.
Threatening email to IndiGo – mention of bomb threat at 5 airports
At around 6:30 pm, IndiGo headquarters in Gurugram received a threatening email.
It was written in the email –
“There are preparations to operate flights at Chennai, Hyderabad, Delhi, Mumbai and Thiruvananthapuram airports,
There will be an attack like the 1984 Madras airport blast.”
Following the email, high alert was declared at all five airports.
S.No. Details of airport threat Action taken 1 Chennai IED blast threat Security checks stepped up, all flights scanned 2 Hyderabad LTTE-ISI link and nerve gas threat BDDS alert, one flight diverted to Mumbai 3 Delhi IGI mentioned linking Red Fort blast CCTV monitoring, passenger screening tightened 4 Mumbai Multiple flights said to be targets Emergency drill and CISF alert 5 Thiruvananthapuram suicide bomber warning NSG and local police deployed
Indigo spokesperson said –
“We are giving top priority to the safety of passengers.
“All threats are being taken seriously and investigation is ongoing.”
These threats affected more than 20 flights, although no flights were cancelled.
Investigation into connection with Delhi blast intensifies, NIA and IB on alert
On November 10, 10 people were killed and more than 20 were injured in an IED blast in a Hyundai i20 car near Red Fort metro station.
NIA has taken over the investigation and termed it a terrorist attack linked to Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM).
There are indications that the main suspect Umar Nabi is linked to the JeM network.
Now these air threats are also being investigated by linking them to the same module.
According to sources, after a cache of 3,000 kg ammonium nitrate and weapons seized in Faridabad
The alert level at Delhi-NCR and airports has been raised to “Red Alert”.