New Delhi:

A Varanasi-bound IndiGo flight today received a bomb threat at the Delhi airport, prompting authorities to inspect the plane, officials said.

The flight, 6E2211, was scheduled to take off from Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport around 5 am and was stopped on the runway minutes before departure.

“At 05:40 am, a phone call was received from the IGI airport regarding a bomb threat. A message ‘BOMB BLAST @30 MINUTES’ was written on a piece of paper inside the lavatory of the flight and was found by the pilot,” an official said.

The aircraft, with 176 passengers onboard, was immediately taken to the isolation bay for further necessary action, the official said, adding that a quick response team was deployed, which has so far not found any suspicious items.

All passengers were deboarded through the emergency door and are safe, the official said.

#WATCH | Passengers of the IndiGo flight 6E2211 operating from Delhi to Varanasi were evacuated through the emergency door after a bomb threat was reported on the flight. All passengers are safe, flight is being inspected.

(Viral video confirmed by Aviation authorities) https://t.co/el2q5jCatxpic.twitter.com/ahVc0MSiXz

— ANI (@ANI) May 28, 2024

The IndiGo also released an official statement and said that the aircraft was taken to a remote bay as per guidelines by airport security agencies.

“The flight is currently undergoing inspection. Post completion of all security checks, the aircraft will be positioned back in the terminal area,” the airline said.

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Earlier this month, a tissue paper with the word ‘bomb’ written on it was found on an Air India flight lavatory at Delhi airport, but it had turned out to be a hoax.

Police had said that they received information regarding a tissue paper found in the lavatory of an Air India flight scheduled to depart for Vadodara on May 15, with the word ‘bomb’ written on it.

“Following standard security protocols, a thorough inspection was conducted, and no suspicious items were found,” an official had said.

Several hospitals and schools in Delhi have recently been targeted with bomb threat emails, that claimed the presence of explosives on their premises. However, investigators found the threats to be false alarms.

New Delhi:

Seven people were arrested for allegedly stealing valuables from passengers’ bags at the IGI Airport in Delhi and recovered several items, including luxury watches, police said on Saturday.

The accused have been identified as Manoj Kumar, Hari Darshan, Balwinder, Praveen Kumar, Sanjeev Kumar, Subodh and Satish Kumar Verma, they said.

Gold jewellery, currency of five countries, two Apple AirPods, a pair of Ray-Ban sunglasses and two luxury watches — a Rado and a De Grisogono — were recovered from the accused.

The case stems from a complaint registered at IGI Airport police station by Punjab native Paramjeet Kaur.

Paramjeet Kaur said she arrived in Delhi from Melbourne on September 16 and was to take a connecting flight to Amritsar, a senior police officer said.

Before boarding her flight to Amritsar, when her baggage was found to be overweight, she opened her bags and adjusted the articles. However, when she reached home, she found the gold items in her bags missing, Deputy Commissioner of Police (IGI Airport) Devesh Kumar Mahla said.

During investigation, the police scanned footage from CCTV cameras and interrogated the loaders working that shift.

A video sent by Hari Darshan was found in Manoj Kumar’s mobile phone in which he can be heard saying “this jewellery is fake, nobody will get anything for this”, Devesh Mahla said.

Following this development, Manoj Kumar and Hari Darshan admitted to stealing the gold jewellery and selling it to a jeweller. They also admitted to stealing several items from the bags of other passengers. They claimed that staff of different airlines helped them steal the articles. Later, the police arrested five more people in this connection, the officer said.

The police have found that the airlines are not following the periodic guidelines issued by the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security and letters from the Delhi Police, he said.

Investigations revealed that some higher officials of the airline concerned connived with the accused and their roles are also under the scanner. Officials of the airline are also being interrogated, the police said.

The accused managed the airline’s security officer to give them a wide berth while they loaded and unloaded baggage from aircraft, the police said.

They roped in the duty officer, whose job was to assign duties to the loaders, to deploy the accused only in the holding area, they said.

Investigation is underway to get a clearer picture about their complete involvement. As a result, no one from the airline has been arrested yet, the police said.

Manoj Kumar, the kingpin of the gang, specialised in identifying bags that might contain valuables. Hari Darshan and Balwinder were loaders and they used to dispose of the jewellery. Praveen Kumar, another loader, diverted the attention of officials during search-and-frisk, the police said.

Sanjeev Kumar and Subodh, both loaders, handed the baggage over slowly for loading and unloading. Satish Kumar Verma is the jeweller who purchased the stolen jewellery from the accused, they said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

In view of the upcoming G20 Summit, the Delhi Police has put in a few restrictions to ensure a smooth flow of traffic in the national capital. However, despite sharing the traffic advisory on social media handles, the Delhi Traffic Police (DTP) has still been receiving a lot of queries from the public about its traffic management plan for the summit being held from September 8 to 10. 

Now, in reference to this, the Delhi Traffic Police has shared guidelines for routes to be taken by flyers planning to head to Delhi airport during the G20 Summit. “What if, I have a flight on 08/09/10th September, 2023, and I have to reach IGI Airport during G20 Summit? Don’t worry! Just follow the instructions in this video,” the DTP wrote on microblogging site X (formerly Twitter). 

Watch the video below: 

What if, I have a flight on 08/09/10th September, 2023, and I have to reach IGI Airport during G20 Summit?

Don’t worry! Just follow the instructions in this video.#G20Summit#G20SummitDelhiFAQs@LtGovDelhi@MEAIndia@CPDelhi@PIB_India@ssyipspic.twitter.com/C7cIz7E0gF

— Delhi Traffic Police (@dtptraffic) September 2, 2023

“My dear friend no need to worry, you can use the Metro services to go Airport from your nearest Metro Station,” the officials informed in the clip. One can visit the official Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) website to check the exact Metro navigation for Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport. 

“You can go anywhere in the Capital City by using Metro Service,” the text on the clip read.

Also Read | Will Delhi Be Under Lockdown For G20 Summit? What Delhi Police Said

One can also use suggested road routes for the airport mentioned in the previously released traffic advisory. “Passengers should note that road journey towards IGI Airport will be affected from 0000 hours on the intervening night of 07 & 08.09.2023 to 2359 hours on 10.09.2023,” it read. 

Notably, the G20 Summit will take place at Bharat Mandapam, Pragati Maidan, New Delhi, on September 9 and 10, 2023. However, the delegates will also visit Rajghat, NGMA (National Gallery of Modern Art) and Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), Pusa during the summit. Therefore, there may be certain traffic regulations in the area of in and around New Delhi from 07.09.2023 to 11.09.2023, the Delhi police said.