Security officials at IGI in tizzy after hoax bomb call

Already on a high alert after Wednesday’s bomb blasts in Mumbai, security officials at the Delhi airport went into a tizzy after receiving an anonymous call about a bomb being placed in a Delhi-Mumbai aircraft.

Already on a high alert after Wednesday’s bomb blasts in Mumbai, security officials at the Delhi airport went into a tizzy after receiving an anonymous call about a bomb being placed in a Delhi-Mumbai aircraft.

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The Delhi Police received a phone call in the morning, where the caller — a girl — said that a bomb has been placed in a Mumbai-bound flight. “The caller, however, also said that the bomb had been kept in a flight that goes to Bandra in Mumbai, which is absurd. We were sure it was a hoax call but the security drill was still followed,” said a senior police official who didn’t wish to be named.

The Central Industrial Security Force, which looks after security at the airport; all airlines and private airport operator Delhi International Airport Ltd were immediately alerted by the police.

All passengers of the Mumbai-bound flights were frisked again before boarding the flights and the aircraft were screened, too. However, no explosive was found at the airport.

“We traced the call to a PCO in Sector 4, Dwarka, and the PCO operator said a 16-17 year old girl had made a call 10 minutes ago,” the official said. “The operator said that he is not aware of the whereabouts of the girl,” he said.

Hoax calls are a major headache for the Delhi Police, with the number of such calls regarding bombs at the airport on the rise. Police personnel handling such calls were recently given special training to detect such calls while engaging the caller in a conversation.