Sleuths tipped off about mystery trio on plane

Kolkata: It may not have been mere chance that led to the discovery of weapons in the cargo hold of the United Arab Emirates Air Force (UAEAF) C-130 Hercules aircraft on Sunday evening. According to sources, intelligence agencies were tipped-off about the aircraft's cargo and "three members of the crew" well in advance, which is why the pilots were repeatedly asked upon landing there were any weapons on board.
After receiving the tip, Indian agencies took no chances. The December 1995 armsdrop in Purulia was on everyone's mind. After leaving Kolkata, the Hercules' flight path would take it over the North Eastern states. "In addition to the three pilots and two flight engineers, the aircraft captain said, there were two aircraftsmen' and two hospitality staff'. Normally, cargo aircraft have one aircraftman and no hospitality staff. We were told to check on these surplus' personnel. All of them had clean military passports, though," a senior officer said. Sources claimed that the aircraft had picked up three "passengers" from an African country a few days before embarking from Abu Dhabi for China but after clearance to land in India had been granted.
The identity of these passengers was not disclosed. In the past, the African nation from where the trio was supposedly picked up is known to have scripted a nuclear deal (though non-military) with China.
The situation is such that the army and air force have officially denied interrogating the crew. With little to go on, a senior intelligence officer said the affair could be written off as a clerical error.
08/09/09 Times of India

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Categories: Airports Sep 2009, Foreign Sep 2009, Safety Sep 2009