Dubai-bound Emirates flight grounded in Mumbai after terror alert call

The flight EK 505 was grounded after an anonymous call was received saying that there were some suspected terrorists on board the plane, a Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL) spokesperson said.

The aircraft had pushed back for the runway at 9: 59 am when the Air Traffic Control (ATC) informed MIAL about a security hazard on board, the spokesperson said.

The plane was taxied to Tango Bay at 10: 47am. All the passengers were deplaned and a thorough checking of the passengers and luggage was carried out by the security agencies.

One or two passengers have been held back and they are being questioned by the security agencies, the spokesperson added.

According to police, the caller, who identified himself as Suresh Chavan, claimed one of the passengers on board by name Shahbaz Khan was an 'Al-Qaeda' terrorist.

"The caller identified himself as Suresh Chavan. He had called the cargo supervisor of Emirates flight claiming that he overheard someone saying Shahbaz was a terrorist," the police said.