High alert after ISIS threat to bomb the Mumbai airport

The law enforcement agencies were on their toes on Wednesday evening after a ‘threat letter to bomb Cargo section of Mumbai airport’ was recovered from a washroom at 5pm.

The spokesperson of Mumbai International Airport Pvt. Ltd. (MIAL) confirmed that a note in the toilet was found on Wednesday evening. “The note carried a message saying ‘attack the cargo on 26 Jan 2018 and any time by ISIS’. Cargo was evacuated and people were allowed to enter only after screening,” said MIAL spokesperson.

After learning the threat letter, the personnel from Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) and Mumbai police rushed to the spot with their Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad (BDDS) as well as Dog Squad. The workers at Cargo unit were safely evacuated before screening the area. “One threat letter was pasted on the wall of a washroom near Cargo area. It must be the handiwork of someone to create panic at airport and nothing else,” a senior officer from CISF told the Free Press Journal.

He further added, “We regularly conduct such drill and it was part of our job to screen the area to avert such threats.”

Though the joint operation of CISF and Mumbai police continued till 6:30 pm yet the work at cargo could not be hampered, said the officer, who added, “We carried out full-blown mock-drill after learning the threat letter.” No case was registered at the time of going to the press.

At the time of going to the press, the spokesperson of Mumbai police, Deepak Deoraj, said, “So far we have not received any complaint from CISF. If they give any complaint regarding the bomb threat, we will register the case.”

Another officer from Sahar police station said, “The officers are still there at the airport. We are scrutinising the CCTV footage.” The passengers and their luggages were thoroughly scanned at domestic as well as international airport of Mumbai. There was no delay in the flight services due to the security scare.