False terror scare on Delhi-bound flight

A telephone call claiming that terrorists were on-board a plane about to land at the airport in New Delhi triggered panic today but it was declared a hoax after checking and apprehending a man who was to late for a flight.

A telephone call claiming that terrorists were on-board a plane about to land at the airport in New Delhi triggered panic on Friday but it was declared a hoax after checking and apprehending a man who was to late for a flight.

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The Lucknow-Delhi Indigo flight (6E-609) was about to land at the airport here at around 4 pm when the airline call centre received a call claiming that terrorists were on-board the plane with explosives. The flight was to go to Hyderabad from Delhi.

The plane landed at the airport and was taken to an isolation bay where a thorough check was conducted.

Meanwhile, police tracked the caller and arrested a suspect Raj Bajaj.

According to a senior official, Bajaj was on his way to Hyderabad.

"He was to catch this flight. The flight was coming from Lucknow to Delhi and then it would have gone to Hyderabad. He appeared to be getting late and so he made the call," the official said.

However, the official said, Bajaj feigned ignorance about the call.

"It appears that the voice recording and his voice are same. But only a forensic analysis will establish that. We will be sending the voice sample to a government forensic laboratory soon," the official said.