Hijack call to Air India keeps officials on toes

Mumbai: Security agencies were on their toes on Wednesday night, after ‘Land Global Service’, an Air India call centre in Thane received a hijack threat call at 9.55 pm. The call was later termed a non-specific threat call as no information about the route and sector was given, said sources. However, the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) was alerted.

In the primary investigation, CISF officials discovered that the caller’s number belonged to a minor boy from Srinagar, Thane. However, police officers from Thane, where the case was registered added that they had approached the telecom company and are yet to get any report or documents belonging to the number, which gave the threat call.

According to a senior CISF official, “The caller threatened to hijack Air India flight number 38095, and warned the call centre executive not to inform the police.” Air India executives later checked the flight and discovered that no such flight number existed. Later, the CISF, police and air traffic control were alerted to check if all aircraft are safe. “The whole night we checked the airport premises and hanger to identify any suspicious activity,” said a CISF official.

CISF sources told The Asian Age that caller ID app Truecaller showed the caller’s number belongs to a minor boy. However, Srinagar police said they are verifying the number as it’s been switched off since the call was made to the Thane call centre.