Delhi: Security tightened at IGI Airport over bomb threat to six flights

New Delhi: Security at the Indira Gandhi International Airport here was scaled up after a local hotel received a call about bomb threat to half a dozen flights.

The Bomb Threat Assessment Committee (BTAC) is currently checking whether the call is specific or non-specific, a source said, adding operations at IGIA are "absolutely normal" at this stage.

Some of the flights mentioned by the anonymous caller do not exist, the source said.

"The call was made to a hotel in Paschim Vihar (West Delhi) at around 3 pm with the anonymous caller saying that bombs have been planted on six flights, including one on a Jet Airways plane," the source said.

The information was passed on to the security agencies concerned, including the CISF and Delhi Police, the source said, adding that "BTAC meeting is underway to check to whether it is a specific or non-specific call."

In the past week several such calls have been received by various airlines, impacting flight operations at several airports in the country.

Panic had gripped passengers at IGIA on March 22 after the Jet Airways call centre received threats about bombs on five of its aircraft that had departed or were to depart from here, hours after blasts ripped through Brussels airport, killing over 30.

On March 23, there was a major security scare at several airports in the country, including the national capital, following a phone call from the US that 11 aircraft of private carrier IndiGo could be in the danger of being blown up.

On Holi on March 24, security on Air India's flights was stepped up after the airline's Mumbai office received threats about presence of bombs on its planes.