Ahmedabad: Air India Express flight IX170 from Dammam to Delhi was diverted to Ahmedabad on Monday after a paper napkin with the word ‘bomb’ written on it was found on board, officials said.The flight, carrying 40 people including crew, was to arrive in Ahmedabad at around 4.25pm.The crew alerted the pilot after the note was found. The aircraft was then diverted to Ahmedabad as part of security protocol.The aircraft was moved to an isolated area after landing. All passengers and crew were evacuated and taken to the terminal building. Their baggage was also separated for security checks.CISF personnel, bomb disposal teams, the fire brigade and a dog squad searched the aircraft and the airport area. A senior Crime Branch officer said the note appeared to be a prank.“Somebody did created mischief by leaving that tissue paper which has ‘bomb’ written on it. Cops have examined the aircraft and the entire airport area was sanitised as a security protocol. No explosives or any other objectionable things were found,” the officer said.The Special Operations Group (SOG) will take over the investigation after an FIR is registered with Airport police, officials said.“One of our flights from Dammam to Delhi was diverted to Ahmedabad as a precaution and in keeping with security protocols after being notified of a specific bomb threat. The govt-appointed Bomb Threat Assessment Committee (BTAC) was alerted immediately, and all security procedures promptly initiated. The flight landed and all guests have been disembarked safely. The aircraft will be released for operations after necessary security checks are completed,” said an Air India Express spokesperson.The hoax comes seven months after a similar threat was reported at Ahmedabad airport. A tissue paper carrying a threatening message was found on an IndiGo flight from Kuwait to Delhi.That aircraft also made an emergency landing at Ahmedabad. The plane was searched, but no objectionable material was found.Police had collected handwriting samples from all 181 passengers to identify the person who wrote the threat on the tissue paper. The case remains undetected.
