A passenger, who was all set to board a flight to Chennai from the IGI airport in New Delhi, on Monday triggered a security alert after he carelessly uttered the word "bomb" just as he was about to board the aircraft.
According to a report in The Times of India, the security at the airport had been heightened since Priyanka Vadra and her daughter were scheduled to take an early morning Jet Airways flight to Chennai. The flyer, a 44-year-old Delhi-based leather importer, was booked on the same flight.
The flyer apparently got annoyed due to the various levels of security checks at the airport and while being frisked at the aerobridge, he reportedly asked the staff of the airline, "Kya check kar rahe ho baar baar? Mere paas bomb hai kya? (What are you checking for again and again? Do I have a bomb?)"
This was enough to trigger an alert. Vadra and her daughter had already boarded the flight by then and personnel of the Special Protection Group were present inside the flight as well as near the boarding gate, the report states.
The TOI report further states that the passenger "was immediately pinned down and handed over to the security personnel. A bomb threat assessment committee (BTAC) was formed and it decided to treat the retort as a full-fledged bomb threat and subject the aircraft to a thorough check."
All passengers were asked to alight the aircraft and after thorough checking, no "bomb" was found.
The Vadras then took another flight to Chennai and the Jet Airways flight took off around three hours after its scheduled departure.
A police official told TOI, "The man was irritated by the multiple rounds of frisking. Each time something would be found in his pocket, such as pan masala sachets and matches, which he was asked to remove. He finally got so worked up that he said something like `bomb hai kya mere paas?' That comment activated the alert."
The man was later let off in the evening, adds the report.