Mystery caller warns flyer will carry bomb on Dec 24
NEWDELHI: For the past 10 days, airport personnel at four airports in the country have been on high alert: Oman Air and Lucknow airport have got phone calls about a potential bomb threat.
The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) is on high alert till December 24, the date on which the passenger is supposed to fly to Jeddah from Lucknow “with explosives”. Passengers are being randomly checked with hand-held explosive trace detectors at Lucknow, Hyderabad and sensitive airports like Delhi and Mumbai.
The first call was received on December 11 at Lucknow airport following which back to back calls were received at the Hyderabad office of Oman Air giving the same information. A Bomb Threat Assessment Committee was formed and the calls were declared as ‘specific’ (serious) and security at airports tightened.
“The first call was received at 12.30 pm on December 11 and as a precautionary measure, random checks were started. A similar call was received at Hyderabad airport where a woman gave the name, travel details and PNR of a passenger claiming that he will carry explosives. The woman called four more times and gave details of the passenger,” a CISF officer said.
The manifesto of Oman Air was checked and it was found the passenger had come from Jeddah to Lucknow on October 11 and had a return ticket for December 24. “It appears to be a case of mischief and the caller might be wanting to create trouble for the passenger. We will definitely stop him but if nothing suspicious is found, he will be allowed to travel further,” the CISF officer said.