Chaos on Delhi-Vadodara Air India flight after 'bomb' scare
A wave of panic swept through a Delhi-Vadodara Air India flight on Wednesday evening when a note containing the word "bomb" was found in the aircraft's lavatory. The alarming message, scribbled on a piece of tissue paper, was discovered by a crew member as the plane readied for takeoff around 7:30pm. Upon finding the note, authorities including the Central Industrial Security Force and Delhi Police were alerted.
Passengers evacuated, search conducted
As a precautionary measure, passengers were asked to deboard the flight and a thorough search launched by the security forces. No suspicious items were found during this thorough inspection. The passengers were transferred to another aircraft to continue their journey. The flight departed for its destination in Vadodara without any further disruptions.
10 Kanpur schools get bomb threat mail from Russian server
This incident came hours after at least 10 schools in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh received bomb threat emails on Wednesday. According to reports, the emails were sent from servers based in Russia. Notably, Kanpur was the latest to be added to the list of Indian cities that have received bomb threats over the last two weeks, after Delhi, Noida, Jaipur, Lucknow, and Ahmedabad among others. On Tuesday morning, at least four hospitals in Delhi received bomb threat calls.
Bomb hoaxes cause panic amid ongoing elections
On May 1, over 150 schools in Delhi-NCR received similar threats, causing widespread panic. Meanwhile, on Sunday, 20 hospitals, the Indira Gandhi International Airport, and the Northern Railways's CPRO office in Delhi also received bomb threats through emails. According to reports, the threats to Delhi schools were sent from a Russia-based mailing service while Sunday's threats were sent from a Europe-based mailing service company—"beeble.com." The security has been strengthened across the country in wake of the Lok Sabha elections.
Jaipur, Ahmedabad schools targeted
On Monday, at least four schools in Jaipur, Rajasthan were evacuated after they received bomb threats via email. On May 6 at least 14 schools in Ahmedabad, Gujarat got threatening emails. Four days later, Ahmedabad police said that they have detected a "Pakistan link" in the mails. "Further probe revealed a connection to a military cantonment in Pakistan," according to Sharad Singhal, Joint Commissioner of Police, Ahmedabad Crime Branch.
