<p>Indian security agencies have launched an investigation into the discovery of a defused explosive on board an Air India VVIP special aircraft at Jeddah Airport early Saturday.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Confirming the development, Air India officials guardedly said here Saturday that "a probe is under way" to unravel how, where and when the major security breach occurred.<br /><br />According to AI sources, the aircraft, a Boeing 747 was an emergency stand-by aircraft intended for use by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in case his regular aircraft developed any last minute snags.<br /><br />The aircraft was kept in complete readiness at Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi, and released Friday for commercial operations after Modi's return to India.<br /><br />After release from stand-by VVIP duty, it was operated as a scheduled domestic-cum-international sector Delhi-Mumbai-Hyderabad-Jeddah flight.<br /><br />The defused explosive was discovered early Saturday by security officials from the business class section of the aircraft after the flight landed at Jeddah.<br /><br />AI officials remained tight-lipped whether the explosive was a grenade or a bomb, and why it was not found when the aircraft was flying on the domestic sector. They said the report of the investigations, ongoing at Jeddah Airport, is awaited.</p>
<p>Indian security agencies have launched an investigation into the discovery of a defused explosive on board an Air India VVIP special aircraft at Jeddah Airport early Saturday.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Confirming the development, Air India officials guardedly said here Saturday that "a probe is under way" to unravel how, where and when the major security breach occurred.<br /><br />According to AI sources, the aircraft, a Boeing 747 was an emergency stand-by aircraft intended for use by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in case his regular aircraft developed any last minute snags.<br /><br />The aircraft was kept in complete readiness at Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi, and released Friday for commercial operations after Modi's return to India.<br /><br />After release from stand-by VVIP duty, it was operated as a scheduled domestic-cum-international sector Delhi-Mumbai-Hyderabad-Jeddah flight.<br /><br />The defused explosive was discovered early Saturday by security officials from the business class section of the aircraft after the flight landed at Jeddah.<br /><br />AI officials remained tight-lipped whether the explosive was a grenade or a bomb, and why it was not found when the aircraft was flying on the domestic sector. They said the report of the investigations, ongoing at Jeddah Airport, is awaited.</p>