Army lay siege of Srinagar airport

Srinagar: The people in and around Sheikh-ul-Alam International Airport, Srinagar were frightened with the surprise siege laid down by the Rashtriya Rifles and Air Force Personnel' around 2: 15 pm on Tuesday suspecting a war emergency, as the tension between India and Pakistan has escalated after the 26/11 terror attacks on Mumbai.
All the telecommunication services operational in the valley were blocked and atmosphere of fear of war loomed at large. Army frisked the passengers and nobody among the civilian were allowed to move towards the Srinagar Airport. The scheduled flights to arrive at the airport except the Hajj flights were diverted and made to make emergency landed at Jammu airport.
Sources told this newspaper that the troopers of Rashtriya Rifles and Air Force Personnel cordoned off the Airport in the afternoon and signaled red alert.
"The war planes were brought onto runway and the Hajj flight which reached in afternoon were evacuated quickly from the airport," sources said.
Sources further said that the shopkeepers and other businessmen around the airport were directed to close their shops and vacate the place.
"Tension gripped the air passengers stranded at the airport after the red alert," sources said.
Col. Uma Maheshwari, defense spokesperson,when contacted denied any action taken by the Army and said that there had been no incident of any such nature.
25/12/08 Abid Gani Wani/Etalaat

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Categories: Airports Dec 2008