Stakeholders of Kolkata airport conduct meet to tackle hoax bomb threat

Kolkata: In the wake of hoax bomb threats, the stakeholders of the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International (NSCBI) Airport are learnt to have conducted a meeting to deal with such scenarios in near future.

On Sunday, an Alliance Air flight from Assam to Kolkata was forced to make an emergency landing at the Kolkata airport on Sunday following a “hoax” that 10 of its passengers were carrying bombs, authorities said Monday. The hoax was one of 25 received across India on the same day. It was learnt that the airport authorities have also lodged a complaint at the airport police station following a hoax bomb threat call at the security check-in e-portal of an airline which said an aircraft will be hijacked from mid-air. Soon after, another call reportedly said a hydrogen bomb was kept on an aircraft at the airport.

The airport authorities issued a high alert. A meeting was convened which also included personnel from CISF and top police officers. Subsequently, a complaint was lodged at the NSCBI Police Station. Police have started a probe into the whereabouts of the call and efforts are being made to trace the location.

An Air India spokesperson told the media that some Air India flights operating on 20 October 2024 were subject to security threats received on social media aid.

“Following the laid-down protocols, relevant authorities were immediately alerted, and all security procedures strictly adhered to, as per guidance from the regulatory authorities and security agencies,”

it was shared. Airlines have said the bomb hoaxes were causing passengers to feel harassed, delaying other flights across the targeted airlines’ networks and triggering huge financial losses.