Bomb threat to Varanasi-bound Air India Express flight turns out to be hoax: Police

Varanasi, Nov 12 (PTI) A bomb threat to an Air India Express flight from Mumbai to Varanasi that landed at the Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport here on Wednesday has turned out to be a hoax, police said.

According to Gomti Zone police, the Air Traffic Control (ATC) in Kolkata informed the Varanasi ATC around 3:58 pm about a possible bomb threat to flight IX-1023 coming from Mumbai.

Following the alert, security agencies at the Varanasi airport were put on high alert before the flight with 182 passengers on board landed safely at 4:19 pm, officials said.

The CISF and airport security teams conducted an intensive search operation and frisking of passengers after the plane landed as part of standard protocol, they said.

“No suspicious object or activity was found during the inspection,” a senior police officer said.

Earlier, an Air India Express spokesperson said in a statement, “One of our flights to Varanasi received a security threat. In line with protocol, the government-appointed Bomb Threat Assessment Committee was immediately alerted, and all necessary security procedures promptly initiated.

“The flight landed safely, and all guests disembarked. The aircraft will be released for operations once all mandated security checks are completed.” PTI COR ABN ARI