KOLKATA: A hijack threat call to the Air India’s airport office led to an aircraft, which was about to depart for Delhi, being thoroughly searched before it was cleared for takeoff on Wednesday evening.
Cops later traced the call to a mentally unstable youth residing in Bongaon’s Kandupur in North 24 Parganas. The youth made two calls to the Air India office — one at 6.50pm when he threatened to hijack a plane belonging to the airline, and again at 7.15pm when he apologised for the earlier call. Though additional security measures including ladder-point hand-luggage checks and frisking are being carried out before passengers board the aircraft due to the heightened alert around Independence Day, the authorities still decided to search an AI flight that was stationed in the apron area.
Luckily, boarding had not yet commenced for the Delhi-bound flight. However, nothing was found in the plane. The flight though was delayed due to the incident. The caller’s parents said he was prone to making calls and getting into trouble. However, cops decided not to act against him after verifying his mental condition.
