Air India planes put on high alert after hijack threat

New Delhi, Jan 22 (PTI) The Indian Government has put
all Air India planes operating in the country's neighbourhood
on high security alert following intelligence inputs from
Western agencies that Pakistan-based Lashker-e-Taiba (LeT) and
other terror groups were planning to hijack a flight.
"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, Special Secretary (Internal Security), said.
He said the Civil Aviation Ministry and the Bureau of
Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) have been alerted to tighten
security in all airports in the country.
A directive has 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," he said.
According to intelligence inputs, terrorist groups
having allegiance with al-Qaeda, Lashker-e-Taiba and
Jamat-ul-Dawa were planning to hijack an Air India plane
especially operating in or from South Asian Association for
Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries -- Nepal, Bangladesh,
Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Maldives, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India
as well. (More) PTI