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Kolkata, February 14 (IANS) A bomb scare was reported on a Shillong-bound IndiGo flight at Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International airport on Saturday .
It was learnt that the flight was scheduled to depart from Kolkata for Shillong at 9:15 a.m. But before taking off, the flight attendants found a note in the plane's toilet. It read, "There is a bomb on the plane". After that, panic spread among the passengers.
According to airport sources, passengers were disembarked and a search of the IndiGo plane began.
According to airport sources, it is being investigated who placed the note in the plane's toilet. It is learnt that the plane is likely to depart for its destination in the afternoon.
A senior official at the airport said, "A security threat was reported today at Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport involving IndiGo flight 6E-7304 scheduled to operate from Kolkata to Shillong. A handwritten note indicating a possible bomb threat was discovered inside the aircraft lavatory by one of the crew members."
The officer informed that the aircraft was moved to isolation bay and all precautionary measures as per standard operating procedure are being taken to ensure safety of passenger and aircraft operation.
The incident however spread panic among the passengers. They were disembarked from the aircraft one by one after boarding the flight.
At present, the CISF bomb squad, which is responsible for security at Kolkata Airport, along with fire officials, are conducting a search operation on the plane. As a result, the plane could not take off on time. It is still not clear who or what put the threats on the plane, who made the threats. High-ranking officials are investigating the matter.
Recently, bomb scares have been spreading quite frequently at various airports across the country. Sometimes there have been threats that bombs have been planted on foreign flights, sometimes on domestic flights.
