At Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Ahmedabad, an abandoned bag found on the Patna-Ahmedabad Spicejet flight just 12 minutes before landing caused high drama.
While security agencies, airport authorities, police and the bomb disposal squad were put on high alert, the passengers of the aircraft had a nightmare dealing with the situation.
Police later tracked the passenger who had forgotten the bag in the flight. The operation continued till 3 am in the night but nothing suspicious was found in the bag.
Rescue stategy readied
According to CISF sources, the pilot of flight SG 924 informed the Operation Control Centre of the airport about an abandoned bag lying beneath the seat of a passenger named Pranav Jain, a native of Himmatnagar. “Jain informed the crew about the unclaimed bag who in turn alerted the pilot,” a CISF source said.
Airport authorities and the security were put on alert before the flight landed. Deputy commissioner of police Rajesh Gadhiya and other police officials rushed to the airport. They held a meeting of the Bomb Threat Committee and discussed a strategy to safely evacuate the passengers. The flight landed at 9 pm. All passengers and crew were evacuated before the aircraft was isolated,” said the source.
Police sources said that as the flight had come to Patna from Mumbai before taking off for Ahmedabad, they looked up the list of passengers who had flown from Mumbai to Patna. “We found that two passengers, Hasant Audangyu and Ahmed Kazi, were occupants of the seat under which the bag was found. We got the mobile number and called them up. Kazi told us that he had forgotten the bag on the flight. On the other hand, the bomb squad checked the bag and found a tiffin from the bag,” a police official said.
