Times of India

BANGALORE, Nov 13: Major airports in the country have been put on high security alert after the US intelligence agency FBI told Indian authorities that US-bound planes from India could be hijacked.

In a message, conveyed through diplomatic channels, FBI referred to an email originating from India and received in US on Saturday evening. Indian agencies immediately forwarded the text of the email to the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security, which, in turn, alerted airports in New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad. All US-bound flights are being closely monitored at these airports.

A senior home ministry official said on Sunday: "Airports across the country are already on high alert after an anonymous letter was received in Trichy last week, threatening Al-Qaida attacks on south Indian airports. We decided to continue it further by giving special attention to international airports."

On Sunday, CISF — which provides security at most of the Indian airports —further tightened its measures: secondary checks before boarding, physical checking of hand baggage and increased perimeter guarding and surveillance. Besides, the anti-hijacking measures were also stepped up with keeping air marshals and commandos in place. "All the security checks are, however, carried out in such a manner that they do not cause inconvenience to passengers," the official said.

Meanwhile, all US-bound passengers have been advised to report much in advance at airports to avoid inconvenience due to extra security checks in the wake of FBI warning.