Suspected Bangladesh plane hijacker who was killed had toy pistol: Police

Dhaka: A Bangladeshi man who was shot dead after he tried to hijack a plane had carried a toy pistol and did not have any explosives on him, the police said on Monday.

Also Read: Passengers safe in hijack attempt on Dubai-bound Bangladesh plane: Report

"The pistol with the suspect was a toy pistol and he had no bomb attached to his body," Kusum Dewan, senior police official in the southeastern city of Chittagong, told Reuters.

"He appeared to be mentally imbalanced. We heard he had a personal issue with his wife and demanded to speak to the prime minister. But we are still investigating. We don't want to come to any conclusion right now."

Bangladeshi commandoes shot the passenger who had tried to enter the cockpit of a Biman Bangladesh Airlines flight on Sunday after waving a gun and threatening to blow up the plane. The Dubai-bound Biman Bangladesh Airlines Flight BG-147 made an emergency landing at a coastal city in the country following the incident, officials said.

It was on its way to Dubai from Dhaka via Chattogram, landed at the Chattogram airport at around 5:40 pm.

The passenger, who had said he had a personal issue with his wife and told the pilot he wanted to speak to Bangladesh's Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, died later from the injuries suffered after the commandos stormed the plane at Chittagong's Shah Amanat International Airport, officials said.