A 41-YEAR-OLD woman approached a check-in counter of the IndiGo at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport on Saturday claiming that a bomb has been planted on an aircraft.
While it turned out to be a hoax, the bomb scare forced the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) to conduct a secondary ladder point check (SLPC) of the IndiGo flight.
The Lucknow-bound flight via Delhi was supposed to take off at 6.05 am.
It was allowed to take off an hour later after it was declared safe by the bomb detection and disposal squad and the CISF, which is responsible for the security of the airport. As many as 169 passengers were onboard the flight.
The secondary ladder point check involves a final round of checking passengers and their belongings once the mandatory checks of the CISF are completed. Near the boarding point, another round of thorough frisking and hand baggage check is conducted, an official said.
The woman, Singapore national Uma Narayan Kannadasan, is suffering from a mental condition, the police said.
At the check-in counter, she allegedly showed pictures of the “suspects” carrying a bomb on the flight, following which security agencies conducted search operations.
A spokesperson of Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL) said, “During the early hours today, one woman passenger travelling to Delhi on Go Air flight G8 329, approached the IndiGo check-in counter at T1 and alleged that there is a bomb on IndiGo flight 6E 3612. She presented photographs of a few people and claimed that they are a threat to nation and are carrying a bomb.”
The woman was later handed over to the Airport police. “She arrived in India around two months ago. On Saturday morning, she was supposed to board a flight to Delhi from another carrier,” said a police officer.
Senior Inspector Alka Mandave said, “We have contacted her family members, who are on their way to Mumbai. Preliminary probe has revealed that she is undergoing treatment. We have asked her family to produce necessary documents of her treatment.”
The police, meanwhile, have booked the woman under sections 336 (endangering life and personal safety of other) and 505 1 B (with intent to cause, or which is likely to cause fear or alarm in the public) of the Indian Penal Code.
“We registered a case after a woman staffer of IndiGo approached the police station with a complaint. No arrest has be made so far,” said Mandave.