The Intelligence Bureau on Sunday issued an alert for the Air India flight going to Kabul in Afghanistan. The alert warned of another Kandahar-style hijacking possible while adding that all the passengers and crew need to be scanned properly.
Following the alert security checks have been increased and the National Security Guard (NSG) black cat unit stationed at Delhi's IGI airport.
On Saturday, a threat phone call was made to the Kolkata's Air India office. An Air India spokesperson said the call was received by its officials at the city booking office at around 5:40 PM and a complaint was subsequently lodged with the Bowbazar police station.
"The Bureau of Civil Aviation has been contacted and all standard precautionary measures have been taken. Flight operation is normal from Kolkata," the spokesperson added.
On December 24, 1999, Indian Airlines flight IC-184 from Kathmandu to New Delhi with 174 passengers and an 11-member crew on board was hikacked and taken to Kandahar in the then Taliban controlled Afghanistan.
The hijackers belonging to Pakistani terror group Harkat-ul-Mujahideen forced India to release dreaded terrorists Maulana Masood Azhar, Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar and Ahmed Omar Saeed Shaikh before they released the passengers and crew. One passenger 28-year-old Rupin Katyal was stabbed to death by the hijackers.