Indian airports on high alert after terror threat

Airports around India have been put on high alert after an anonymous warning of a terrorist attack on Air India flights.

The threat, received at Kolkata, warned of possible targeting of an Ahmedabad-Mumbai flight today followed by an attack on a flight on the Mumbai-Kochi sector on Saturday.

Airports, including Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport as well as the airport at Kochi in Kerala and others around the country, have been placed on high-alert after the anonymous letter.

Reports were sketchy at the time of writing. Civil aviation authorities said the director of the Airports Authority of India, Kolkata, had received an anonymous call last night stating that AI flights on the Ahmedabad-Mumbai and Mumbai-Kochi sector will be 'sabotaged', while another version says that an email regarding the threat was received by the airport director.

Personnel from the bomb detection and disposal squad along with Quick Response Team, Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) are keeping constant vigil at the airports, following the alert. Security at the airport perimeter entrance has also been further tightened, the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) said, adding that intelligence agencies and local police are keeping constant vigilance over the situation.

Airport officials said they believe the letter to be a hoax even as details are being investigated. The source of the letter is yet to be tracked, but security has been stepped up, not just at Kochi, but also at Ahmedabad, where sources said that the festival season calls for more stringent safety checks.