Hijack threat: Security tightened at Bhubaneswar airport

BHUBANESWAR: The Biju Patnaik International Airport on Sunday tightened security here following an intelligence alert that terrorists may hijack Air India flights going to Afghanistan, official sources said.

The Central security forces were deployed in the airport to keep a tab on the activities of every person. The airport was covered with four-layer security, official sources said.   

The security forces were checking passengers minutely before entering into the airport. They were deployed in front of the airport terminals also.     

“It’s a serious issue that somebody has threatened the Kolkata airport to hijack Air India plane. We have taken all measures in our airport according to security point of view,” said airport Director Sharad Kumar. 

Notably, Air India told that their control room in Kolkata on Saturday received a call from an unknown person who said the Kolkata-Kabul flight would be hijacked but it later turned out to be a hoax.

In 1999, Indian Airlines flight IC 814 was hijacked by terrorists who took it to Kandahar in Afghanistan and demanded the release of three terrorists from Indian prisons in return for the passengers.