Delhi-Varanasi IndiGo flight gets bomb threat, plane moved to isolation bay

An IndiGo flight heading to Varanasi from Delhi received a bomb threat on Tuesday, an airport official told the ANI news agency.

All the passengers were evacuated via the emergency exits, and the aircraft was moved to an isolation bay for inspection. The official said that an aviation security team and a bomb disposal squad are currently on site. The flight was scheduled to take off at 5.35.

The Delhi Fire Services said a quick response team reached the spot shortly after receiving news of a bomb on the flight.

In a statement, the airline said, “IndiGo flight 6E2211 operating from Delhi to Varanasi had received a specific bomb threat at Delhi airport. All necessary protocols were followed, and the aircraft was taken to a remote bay as per guidelines by airport security agencies.

“All passengers were safely evacuated via the emergency exits. The flight is currently undergoing inspection. Post completion of all security checks, the aircraft will be positioned back in the terminal area,” it added.

Meanwhile, a senior CISF official told ANI news agency that a “tissue paper, with the word ‘bomb’ written on it, was found in the lavatory” of the aircraft. He said this “prompted security agencies to conduct an inspection, but it turned out to be a hoax”.

Tuesday’s development comes in the wake of a spate of bomb threat mails sent to government establishments, schools, colleges, hospitals, airports and hotels. So far, all of them have turned out to be fake.

On Monday, Mumbai’s Taj Mahal Palace hotel and Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport received a bomb threat. But the didn’t find anything suspicious after conducting a thorough search at the two locations.

Last week, the Lady Sri Ram College and some other colleges of Delhi University also received bomb threats via e-mail, which turned out to be a hoax later as nothing suspicious was found.

On May 23, three luxury hotels in Bengaluru received bomb threats via email, while a day earlier, the Union Home Ministry also received a similar email. These emails were also dismissed as a hoax.

Nearly 100 schools in Delhi, two in Noida and one in Lucknow received a bomb threat via email on May 1, which was dismissed as fake.