Bomb threat at Kolkata airport

Kolkata: Following a bomb threat, an Air Asia flight was evacuated at the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International (NSCBI) airport in Kolkata on Friday afternoon.

It was learnt that the Pune-bound AirAsia flight was thoroughly checked by the CISF personnel after a passenger claimed to have a bomb in his luggage. Sources said that in the morning when luggage check was afoot, a passenger claimed that he was carrying a bomb in his luggage.

Panic spread following this development. The passenger concerned was detained and interrogated. Although airport authorities did not officially confirm as to whether any explosive was found, airport sources said nothing was found during the search.

The Kolkata airport has been receiving such threats lately but all of them turned out to be a hoax. About 10 days ago, the directors in 41 airports across the country had received a threat via email, claiming explosive devices were hidden in the airports. Patna, Jaipur, Vadodara and Coimbatore airports were among those which had received the threat.

In April, authorities at the Kolkata airport received two bomb threats by email in a span of three to four days.

The CISF conducted the search in the airport’s terminal building and operational area, while police personnel carried out checks in the city-side area. Sniffer dogs were also deployed during the operation. However, nothing was found after searches.