New DelhiThe series of threats to bomb flights of Indian airlines continued on Sunday also. For the second consecutive day on Sunday, more than 20 air flights received bomb threats, following which emergency landings were made. According to reports, the airlines whose flights were threatened include Vistara, Indigo and Air India. Six flights of these three companies have received threats. Earlier on Saturday, more than 30 planes were threatened with bombs.
Due to continuous threats and emergency landing of planes, thousands of passengers are getting troubled for hours. In the last one week, i.e. from Monday to Sunday, October 20, about one hundred planes have received bomb threats. However later all these proved to be false. Due to these threats, till now the aviation companies have suffered a loss of more than Rs 200 crore.
The Union Home Ministry has sought a detailed report from the Ministry of Civil Aviation and the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security in this matter. Apart from the CISF deployed for the security of the airports, NIA and IB have also been asked to submit reports. Meanwhile, the Central Government on Saturday removed Director General of Aviation Security Vikram Dev Dutt from the post and made him Secretary in the Coal Ministry.
A day earlier on Saturday, after receiving 30 threats simultaneously, senior officials of the aviation companies met officials of the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security, BCAS. Bureau Director General Zulfikar Hasan assured them that the Indian skies are completely safe. It is worth noting that when information about a bomb in the plane is received, the flight is landed at the nearest airport instead of its scheduled airport. Not only does this consume more fuel, arrangements have to be made to re-check the aircraft, accommodate passengers in hotels and take them to their destinations. This results in an average additional expenditure of Rs 3 crore per flight.