Preliminary investigations into the recovery of a ‘stun grenade’ on-board Air India flight 965 to Jeddah last Saturday have revealed that the object was left behind in the business class section during an NSG anti-hijacking mock drill conducted in Mumbai on September 26.
While national security advisor Ajit Doval asked the NSG to explain the lapse on Tuesday, it is quite evident that the object was no dummy stun grenade but only a plastic container of the grenade. Already, AI security managers at Hyderabad and Mumbai have been suspended for failing to notice the object.
The B-747 aircraft was released by the SPG after Prime Minister Narendra Modi left for Frankfurt on September 25. The NSG conducted a mock drill the next day and the plane was used for Mumbai-Hyderabad-Jeddah flight after its VVIP configurations were changed on October 3.