The Special Task Force (STF) of Kolkata police on Sunday arrested a man who allegedly called the city office of Air India (AI) warning of a possible hijack of its Delhi-Kabul flight.
The 35-year-old accused, Prasanta Biswas, was arrested from his home in Bongaon on 4 January and is being interrogated, according to the city police sources, PTI reported.
He was tracked down by a team of STF officers and the police's detective department based on the phone number from which he made the call, and is being interrogated by the Kolkata police.
The Kolkata AI office had received the call on Saturday, following which the Intelligence Bureau and the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security issued an alert to Delhi airport and all international airports in the country to beef up security.
"The threat perception is based on messages that surfaced earlier, indicating that both Islamic State militants and the Taliban may choose to target India," said a NDTV report.
The security agencies feel that since AI is India's national carrier used by senior government officials to travel to Afghanistan, it could be targetted, NDTV added.
The agencies have also asked airport authorities to conduct strict scanning of all passengers and crew members.
Kolkata's Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport has deployed dog squad in around the airport building and checking baggage manually even after scanning. The city police are also keeping an eye on activities at the airport's taxi stand and nearby areas.
