Meal under burqa sets off false alarm on SpiceJet

Kolkata: A Delhi-Kolkata SpiceJet flight made an emergency landing at the Kolkata airport on Wednesday afternoon, after a burqa-clad Russian woman passenger drew the crew’s attention for “suspicious behaviour”.
She and her husband were detained and questioned for long hours before and were set free, drawing in the process a diplomatic intervention from the Russian Embassy. Asal Becov Artur (58) and his wife Albai Evoafle Onara (50) were heading for Dhaka via Kolkata. They were scheduled to board a Kolkata-Dhaka Kingfisher flight in the evening, said a senior CISF official.
On being asked why the emergency landing was sought, the captain and crew members explained that the woman neither removed her veil when taking refreshments nor spoke throughout the flight. This, coupled with her height — 5 feet 8 inches — led them to suspect that there might be a man under the veil who was trying to hide his identity.
Onara told interrogators that her religion forbade her to remove the veil in public.
Interrogation revealed that they have visited India around eight times earlier. Thereafter, they were released and they boarded the Kolkata-Dhaka flight.
06/05/10 Indian Express

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Categories: Airports May 2010, Foreign May 2010, Safety May 2010, spicejet May 2010