Rafales in air, radars active: How India ensured safety of Sheikh Hasina's jet

Indian security agencies were ready for any contingency as she was headed towards India for safety in an Air Force jet.

After the ouster of Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's government, Indian security agencies were ready for any contingency as she was headed towards India for safety in an Air Force jet.

Sheikh Hasina (C) weeps while she visits a metro station in Mirpur vandalized by students during the anti-quota protests. (AFP file photo)

Indian Air Force radars were actively monitoring air space over Bangladesh and detected a low-level flying aircraft around 3 PM coming towards India, sources told ANI.

The aircraft was allowed to move inside India as the air defence personnel knew who was inside the plane, they said.

In a bid to provide security to the plane, two Rafale fighter aircraft from the 101 squadron from Hashimara air base in West Bengal were airborne over Bihar and Jharkhand as the aircraft, the sources said.

The aircraft was on its flight path and was closely monitored by the agencies in ground with constant communication between it and top Indian security officials on ground, the sources said.

The Indian Air Force and Army chiefs Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari and Gen Upendra Dwivedi were monitoring the situation very closely, the sources said.

A top-level meeting of top security officials was also held with the involvement of intel agency chiefs, Gen Dwivedi and Integrated Defence Staff chief Lt Gen Johnson Philip Mathew.

As Hasina's jet landed at Hindan air base around 545 PM, she was greeted by National Security Advisor Ajit Doval who held an hour-long meeting with her and the current situation in Bangladesh and her future course of action also came up for discussion.

The NSA then left the airbase in the evening to brief a Cabinet Committee of Security meeting led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The PM was kept informed about the developments throughout the day.