New Delhi. Threats to domestic and foreign flights of Indian airlines continue. On Saturday, more than 20 flights received bomb threats in one day. After the threat, emergency landing of the planes was done and along with checking the luggage of the passengers, the entire plane was checked. About 70 flights have been threatened in a week. It is noteworthy that due to emergency landing of a flight, the airline company incurs a loss of Rs 3 crore.
Regarding this, the main opposition party Congress has attacked the government and said that such incidents are causing a lot of trouble to the people during festivals.
However, on Saturday, flights of almost all Indian airlines were threatened. Threats were made to bomb flights of companies like IndiGo, Air India, Akasa, Vistara, SpiceJet, Star Air and Alliance Air. However, all the threats received so far have proved false. But every time after receiving a threat, emergency landing of flights has to be done and this increases the expenses of the companies. Passengers face different problems. Because they have to go through hours of searching and there is a delay in reaching the destination.
After receiving continuous threats for the last one week, the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security, BCAS, held a meeting with the CEOs of all the airlines in New Delhi. In this, dealing with false threats was discussed. There was also discussion on the inconvenience being faced by the passengers and the loss being incurred by the airlines. Amidst the continuous threats, the central government had decided on October 16 to double the number of air marshals on flights. The Home Ministry has also sought a report from the Aviation Ministry.
Among the flights that were threatened after midnight on Friday and till Saturday evening was the flight to Darbhanga in Bihar, where the passengers were deboarded from the plane and checked. There were also bomb threats on planes bound for London and Istanbul, after which the planes made emergency landings and were checked. Late Friday night, a bomb threat was made on one flight each of Air India Express and Vistara Airlines. Of these, Vistara flight going from Delhi to London was diverted to Frankfurt.
Mumbai Police has arrested a person and detained a minor for spreading false news about planting of a bomb in a flight. He had threatened to plant a bomb in an Indigo flight on 14 October. Amidst the continuous threats, Delhi Police has registered half a dozen FIRs. On the other hand, the government has blocked 10 social media accounts making fake claims of there being a bomb on the plane. On October 16, the Aviation Ministry had replied to the parliamentary committee in the case of threatening messages, in which it had said that the accused have been identified and action is being taken.