Shocker: Bomb found on Air India aircraft earmarked for PM Narendra Modi
Posted by Unknown on Saturday, October 4, 2014 | 0 comments
In a security scare, a defused bomb was found last night in the business class of an Air India jumbo aircraft which was kept as a standby for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recent US visit.
The discovery of the bomb uncovered a major security lapse within the Indian establishment tasked with protecting the top ring of the government.
The grenade was found by the Air India crew on board the Boeing 747-400 which was operating the Mumbai-Hyderabad-Jeddah flight, airline sources said today.
On landing at Jeddah, the incident was reported to the local security agencies who took over the aircraft, the sources said.
The aircraft, which has been cleared and released by Jeddah airport security, is still in the city as Indian security personnel were investigating the matter. The plane is likely to return to Calicut soon.
The aircraft had been kept as a standby for the recent US visit of Modi. The Prime Minister had undertaken a five-day visit to the US from September 25.
An Air India executive said that it was the "plastic casing" of a shell of a stun grenade used by security during the anti terror drills carried out in the plane and that it was "completely harmless". The airline is carrying out its investigations.
"A suspicious object was found on board this aircraft. The investigations are on," an Air India Spokesperson said.
