Girl barred from airport, sis cooks up terror hoax

Kolkata: Three members of a dance troupe were barred from an Agartala-bound flight, detained and interrogated for three hours after the airport office got a call that the trio were "terrorists" planning to "destroy" the aircraft.
The drama started at 6.24 am when a woman called the airport board number and asked for the domestic manager. After the line was transferred, she said: "I am calling from the CID office. Three terrorists - Mr S Dutta, Ms A Dutta, and Mr P Ghosh - are flying to Agartala. They will attack the aircraft. Stop them until we reach."
The airport manager alerted CISF officers, who went through the passenger manifest of all Agartala-bound flights and found the names of the three passengers on an IndiGo flight that was scheduled to depart in 45 minutes. With barely 15 minutes to spare, the three were tracked down and surrounded by securitymen. The CISF personnel found that the 'suspects' were among 21 members of a dance troupe booked on the flight. Securitymen first re-checked the trio's baggage and then that of the other 17 members of the troupe.
Though nothing suspicious was found, they decided not to take any risk and detained the three. The rest were allowed to board the flight without their luggage.
It is during this grilling that police learnt that a 20-year-old girl, Suranjana Guha, had been denied entry to the check-in area because she did not have an ID card - a must for all passengers flying to the North-East.
Police took her landline number and contacted the BSNL authorities to check if the call to the airport number had originated from it. There was a match.
When officers went to the girl's Ultadanga residence and confronted the family, Suranjana's sister Nilanjana admitted to having made the hoax call.
The three passengers were allowed to board another IndiGo flight to Agartala at 12.30 pm.
21/10/08 Times of India

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Categories: Airports Oct 2008, Indigo Airlines Oct 2008, Safety Oct 2008