On grounds of suspicion, a woman, who was travelling to Bhubaneswar from New Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport's Terminal 3, was frisked and her handbag was checked thoroughly as someone had called the Delhi airport's call centre and had alleged that the woman was carrying a bomb with her.
The woman was supposed to board a flight from New Delhi to Bhubaneswar on Tuesday evening. She was surprised when she was asked to step aside by the security personnel and have her handbag checked. The bomb disposal squad of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) cleared the area nearby and subjected the handbag to a thorough check but found nothing bomb-like in the bag.
Husband didn't want wife to leave
According to senior security officers, a call came around 5:45 pm at the Delhi airport's call centre in Gurugram informing that the woman was carrying a bomb in her bag. It later turned out that it was rather a hoax call and was made by none other than the woman's husband, who supposedly did not want her to leave. The couple reportedly had a fight before the woman left her home.
According to the police, the caller had reported that the woman was travelling to Bhubaneswar.
A senior CISF officer on condition of anonymity was quoted as saying, "On this, the call centre officials informed the Delhi airport's operation control centre, which in turn alerted the Delhi police and Central Industrial Security Force that secures the airport. The woman, as described by the man on the call, was traced in the boarding area of Terminal 3 where she was waiting to board her flight. She was approached and was asked to step aside and allow a detailed and thorough checking of her handbag."
The officer further said that the chances of the woman carrying explosives in her bag were less because her bag had already undergone the regular security checks but after receiving the call, the bomb squad was called in and other passengers waiting in the area were also asked to move away.
The threat was later declared as a hoax and Deputy Commissioner of Police (Delhi airport) Rajeev Ranjan said a preliminary inquiry revealed that the call was made from Gurugram.
He added that the man who had made the call was identified as the woman's husband and the airport authorities have now approached the police for initiating action against the offender as he raised a false alarm and caused inconvenience to the passengers and the staff.
