Police probe threat call to Air India, security beefed after Kandahar-style hijack threat

Kolkata: After an Intelligence Bureau alert warning of a Kandahar-style hijack bid on the Air India flight going to Kabul in Afghanistan, Special Task Force and detective department of the Kolkata Police on Sunday launched an investigation while security has been beefed up at the NSC Bose International Airport in Kolkata.

The alert warned of another Kandahar-style hijacking while adding that all the passengers and crew need to be scanned properly.

Security checks have been increased and the National Security Guard (NSG) black cat unit stationed at Delhi's IGI airport.

A special team set up with officials of the STF and detective department is trying to track the number from which the Air India's Kolkata office received the threat calll on Saturday, a senior police officer said.

"After a complaint was lodged with the police yesterday, STF and detective department have been jointly looking into the case. Security has been tightened in the Air India office," the officer said.

An Air India spokesman said appropriate security agencies like the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) are looking into the issue.

Meanwhile, security has also been upgraded at the NSC Bose International Airport following the threat call. Security officials at the airport said a Red Alert is already on at the airport in view of the coming Republic Day but additional measures have been taken.

Dog squad has been pressed into service in and around the terminal buildings while each and every luggage was manually checked besides the normal scanning.

The officials said policemen were keeping a tab at the airport's taxi stand and nearby areas.

The call was received at Air India's city booking office at around 5.40 PM and a complaint was subsequently lodged with the Bowbazar police station.

On December 24, 1999, Indian Airlines flight IC-184 from Kathmandu to New Delhi with 174 passengers and an 11-member crew on board was hikacked and taken to Kandahar in the then Taliban controlled Afghanistan.

The hijackers belonging to Pakistani terror group Harkat-ul-Mujahideen forced India to release dreaded terrorists Maulana Masood Azhar, Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar and Ahmed Omar Saeed Shaikh before they released the passengers and crew. One passenger 28-year-old Rupin Katyal was stabbed to death by the hijackers.