More tests needed to conclude if explosives inside suspicious bag found at IGI airport: CISF official

After a suspicious bag was found outside Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport's Terminal 3, the CISF on Friday said that more tests were needed to conclude if it contained explosives such as RDX and possibility of "false alarm" cannot be ruled out.

The prima facie investigation revealed that some kind of explosives were inside the bag which was found outside Terminal 3 in the intervening night of Thursday and Friday.

Special DG CISF M A Ganapathy, who heads security of all airports under CISF including Delhi, told ANI that one should not conclude that an explosive has been found and there is a possibility of a false alarm also.

The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) guards Delhi airport.

"At 12:55 am, CISF personnel detected an unclaimed bag lying outside the arrival forecourt of the IGI airport. The bag was suspicious and immediately the bomb disposal squad was called. The sniffer dogs were used and explosive tests were conducted on the bag. These were preliminary tests, which gave a positive signal for some kind of explosive," Ganapathy said.

However, he asserted that it is too "early and premature" to determine whether it was RDX as reported in sections of media.

"It is too early and premature to determine whether it is RDX as it is reported in various sections of media. There were false alarms as well. There are many ingredients in a bag that give an explosive positive confirmation but they are not conclusive always," he added.

The Special DG also explained the next level process is to ascertain whether the bag has any explosive or not.

He informed that the bag will be kept in the cooling pit for the next 24 hours and later it will be subjected to a forensic test.

The officer also praised the swiftness of his team and said that "the CISF reacted very promptly, in fact immediately, and evacuated the bag from the site. Within 5 to 10 minutes, the bag was removed and taken to the safe zone."

Delhi Police is probing the entire matter.

The security was tightened at the airport in the morning after the suspicious bag was spotted.