Gujrat, February 10 (Punjab Khabarnama Bureau): A letter threatening bomb blast was reportedly found inside an international flight at the Sardar Patel International Airport of Gujarat’s Ahmedabad, police said on Monday.
The bomb threat letter was found on board the Jeddah-Ahmedabad international flight after it landed at the Ahmedabad airport on Monday morning, news agency PTI quoted an an official as saying.
The official said nothing suspicious was found after authorities checked the aircraft.
Local police, Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad (BDDS) and security agencies searched the aircraft after the threat letter was found under a seat, said Sharad Singhal, joint commissioner of police, crime branch.
“A flight carrying passengers from Jeddah landed at the Ahmedabad airport in the morning. After all the passengers alighted, the cleaning staff found a note with a threat to blow up the flight. Local police, along with security agencies, have started the investigation,” the report quoted an official.
The official said forensic experts have also been called to match the fingerprints and handwriting of passengers to check if any of them was behind the act.
“We will check the fingerprints and handwriting of each passenger. As of now, nothing suspicious has been found,” he added.
Recent bomb threats
This is latest in the series of similar bomb threats via letters and emails across establishments in the country, that have turned out to be hoax so far. On February 7, prominent college and two schools in Delhi-NCR received bomb threats over email, prompting police to deploy explosive disposal units and dog squads to comb the premises, officials said.
The threat emails were sent to St Stephen’s College, a constituent of Delhi University, Ahlcon International School in Mayur Vihar Phase-1, and the Shiv Nadar School in Noida.
The Delhi Police later declared the threats as hoaxes after a thorough search of both the premises.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Noida) Ram Badan Singh also dismissed the threat email sent to Shiv Nadar School as a hoax.
The Delhi Police said in a statement, “At St Stephen’s College, a check with the dog squad and college security was completed in every block as well as all open spaces. Nothing suspicious was found. The college premises have now been handed over to the authorities.”
The police also searched the premises of Ahlcon International School and found nothing suspicious, according to the statement.
Earlier, a senior police officer had said St Stephen’s College received a bomb threat via email at 7:42 am. “Our bomb and dog squads are on the ground, checking the entire premises,” he had said.
An officer in the East Delhi district had said officials of the Ahlcon International School informed the police around 6:40 am on Friday that they had received an email about a bomb on the premises.
On February 4, two private schools in Madhya Pradesh’s Indore city were evacuated after they received bomb threats through emails, which later turned out to be hoax, police said.
The police then registered two cases against unidentified persons for the bomb threats, they said. Due to the bomb threats and the resulting search operations, an examination of the Staff Selection Commission (SSC) being conducted in one of these schools was affected and a practical exam in another school was postponed, the police and school authorities said.
Summary: A bomb threat letter was discovered under a seat on an aircraft at Ahmedabad airport, prompting security measures and investigations.