27 with fake visas detained at IGI

Twenty-seven people were detained at IGI airport putting rest to fears of a possible plane hijack sparked after anonymous phone call to call centres of two airlines warned some passengers, travelling on fake travel documents, might attempt to hijack a Dubai-bound flight. HT reports.

Twenty-seven people were detained at Indira Gandhi International airport on Tuesday putting rest to fears of a
possible plane hijack sparked after anonymous phone call to call centres of two airlines warned some passengers, travelling on fake travel documents, might attempt to hijack a Dubai-bound flight.

HT Image

Hinting at a possible immigration racket of a global scale, sources in the Delhi police later said the men detained by the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) — the force that oversees airport security — were unskilled labourers with no terror links and were looking to travel to Dubai on fake visas.

The detainees are from Bangladesh. Some are from Punjab.

The phone calls were received almost simultaneously by the customer helplines of Kingfisher airlines and Jet Airways. The call to Kingfisher warned of 12 passengers attempting to hijack the Delhi-Dubai flight IT 401.

Jet Airways was warned of 15 Bangladeshi hijackers. Although the caller also divulged the names and other details of the passengers, the flight was not identified.

“A coordination committee meeting of officials from CISF, Intelligence Bureau, Delhi Police and Immigration was immediately convened,” said CISF spokesman Rohit Katiyar. “We took all mandatory anti-hijacking measures.”