Security officials in tizzy after email talks of bomb threat at Chennai airport

CHENNAI: Security officials were on their toes at the Chennai airport on Thursday, searching every piece of luggage that was being brought in and engaging sniffer dogs for screening everything following the receipt of an e-mail from an anonymous person about a mystery person set to board a flight with a bomb hidden in his bags.

The mail, reportedly created with a fake id, said that the bomb could explode inside the airport or the flight as the mystery person was the way to the airport but did not reveal any details about the flight or the identity of the traveller.

Neither did the mail say anything about the time of the flight nor clarify if the mystery person was heading to the international terminal or the domestic terminal, thus leading to chaos and confusion among the security agencies, who immediately increased the overall security and started additional screening of passengers and their baggage.

The personnel of the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security were immediately called for an emergency meeting after the e-mail landed at the office of the airport manager, along with those from the Central Industrial Security Force officials, Q Branch officials and the State police. Bomb detection squads were also summoned to the airport.

Since nothing was found in the screening of all the passengers, the security agencies suspected that it might have been a hoax played with a view to stopping a passenger taking a flight to an overseas destination.

While the airport police had registered a case and started investigations, the cyber cell was also involved in the probe as the threat was received over email.