Bomb hoax on Patna-bound IndiGo flight

A phone call to police claiming that a bomb has been planted on a Patna-bound IndiGo flight sent authorities at IGI airport here into a tizzy but it turned out to be a hoax allegedly by a passenger who was running late to catch the plane.

According to sources, the Delhi Police control room received a call at around noon, saying there is a bomb on Patna-bound IndiGo flight (6E-178).

The flight, with 138 passengers, was scheduled to take- off at 12.15 PM.

As soon as the information was received, police and Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) jumped into action.

The bomb disposal squad was pressed into service after deboarding all  passengers and the plane was taken to a remote bay, they said.

But, after a search of around two hours, no bomb was found. The aircraft was declared safe and the call was declared a hoax, the sources said.

The call was later traced to an IndiGo passenger, Pramod, who had booked a ticket on the flight but was apparently late. He had allegedly made the call from Delhi Cantonment area with an intention to delay its take off, they said.

Police were looking for him, the sources said.

The flight was delayed by over three and a half hours and it finally took off at 3.40 PM.