Govt sounds alarm at airports after hijack threat

The civil aviation ministry today called for stricter security measures at all airports and asked airlines to abide by the guidelines, following intelligence inputs that a Pakistan-based terror group was planning to hijack an Indian flight.

“The security measures will include deployment of sky marshals on certain flights, introduction of stepladder frisking as an additional precaution, and all other necessary steps with regard to the safety and security of the passengers,” the ministry said in a statement.

The airlines said they had already upgraded the security measures and all necessary steps on safety and security of passengers have been put in place. The government has also put on alert all Air India planes operating in the country’s neighbourhood.

According to intelligence inputs Western agencies, terrorist groups having allegiance with Al Qaeda, Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jamaat-ud-Dawa were planning to hijack an Air India plane, especially operating in or from South Asian countries such as Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, the Maldives, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India.

“The alerts have been issued by us and it is based on some intelligence inputs that we have received. We suspect that there can be an attempt to target one of our airlines, especially those which fly abroad. We have alerted our agencies to be careful on anti-hijacking measures,” U K Bansal, secretary for internal security, said.

A directive had been issued to all Indian missions abroad to sensitise the staff of the airlines, he said. “These are anti-India terrorist outfits, whose objectives are to carry out attacks in India or harm Indian interests,” Bansal added.

The Ministry of External Affairs has asked Indian missions, particularly in Saarc (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) countries, to brief the staff of the Air India and other Indian carriers about the threat.

Taking a serious view of the threat, the home ministry yesterday issued directions to upgrade security. The intelligence input has been shared with India by Western spy agencies which had received an intercept. The BCAS has issued an advisory to all airlines to conduct a mandatory secondary ladder point check on all aircraft flying in the region.