Mangaluru: Panic prevailed in the coastal town of Mangaluru on Monday after a bag with explosive was found outside the Mangaluru International Airport building Monday morning.
Though initially there was confusion over the nature of the suspicious bag, the bomb detection and disposal squad confirmed that it was an explosive and destroyed it ensuring that the bomb did not harm anybody. This is the first time an explosive of this kind, kept in a steel box inside a bag, has been found in Mangaluru, said sources.
The CISF personnel who found the bag near the ticket counter of the airport, seized it and found the suspicious object in it. Senior police officials headed by Mangaluru Police Commissioner Dr P.S. Harsha then rushed to the airport. “The CISF officials conveyed the message to the police control room and immediately, the bomb detection and disposal squad was sent which kept it in the isolation bay as per safety protocol,” the police commissioner told reporters. The bomb was later taken to the ground at Kenjar near the airport, placed in a huge pit and destroyed.
Police sources said that based on CCTV footage and a preliminary investigation, they suspect that a person who came in a rickshaw, placed the bag near the ticket counter at 9.20 am and left the spot. The police have also released the photos of the person and the rickshaw.
It is suspected that the person came in a bus till Kenjar bus stand (below the hill on which the airport is situated) and then took a rickshaw to the airport. After placing the bag near the ticker counter, he left, said police sources. “The suspect wore a cap to hide his identity,” the commissioner told reporters.
“Three teams have been formed to probe the incident. “We request people to inform us if they have any information to give us. We have also provided the photo of the accused,” Mr Harsha said adding, “Police security has been beefed up and anti-sabotage checks are being conducted in Mangaluru city. We are confident of a breakthrough in the case shortly.”
Meanwhile a Hyderabad bound flight had to be stopped following a phone call to the Air Traffic Terminal about a bomb in the flight. The officials who checked the flight found it to be a hoax call.
