New Delhi: When it comes to aviation security, no one dare take chances. And when a tissue paper with the word 'bomb' scribbled on it was found in an Air India aircraft's lavatory at Delhi airport, security agencies could not fail to act. And act they did promptly with an inspection but it turned out to be a hoax, a police official said.
Sharing the details, police said that on Wednesday at around 7:30 p.m., information was received regarding a tissue paper, normally an object with least capability to be deadly, found in the lavatory of an Air India flight scheduled to depart for Vadodara. It was only the word "bomb" written on it that caused the panic and the police search.
The officer said the Central Industrial Security Force and the Delhi Police were informed and passengers were asked to deboard the flight.
"Following standard security protocols, a thorough inspection was conducted, and no suspicious items were found," said Deputy Commissioner of Police (IGI Airport) Usha Rangnani.
This comes after several hospitals in Delhi, along with the Indira Gandhi International Airport, were targeted with bomb threat emails on Sunday, alleging the presence of explosives on their premises.
However, subsequent investigations by Delhi Police revealed the threats to be false alarms. A fortnight ago over 150 schools across Delhi-NCR received hoax threat emails, prompting widespread police response.
(With inputs from agencies)