Indian planes in S Asia put on high alert after hijack threat

New Delhi, Jan 22 (PTI) Flights of Air India and other
Indian carriers operating in South Asia have been put on high
security alert following intelligence inputs that Pakistan-
based LeT and Al-Qaeda-linked terrorists were plotting to
hijack an Indian plane in the region.

Mandatory secondary ladder point checks on all aircraft
operating in the south asian region and sky marshals on
flights were ordered by authorities, as security was further
beefed up at airports across the country after Government
issued a hijack alert for Indian planes in South Asian
Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries.
"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 Friday.
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 owing
allegiance with Al-Qaeda, Lashker-e-Taiba (LeT) and
Jamat-ud-Dawah (JuD) were planning to hijack an Air India
plane especially operating to or from SAARC countries --
Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Maldives, Afghanistan,
Pakistan and India as well.
Air India and private carriers Jet Airways and Kingfisher
said necesssary security drill put in place and nothing was
being taken to chance. (MORE) PTI SKL
SDE


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