Delhi airport normal after
terror scare, investigations on
New
Delhi, Dec 5 (IANS) The Indira Gandhi International Airport
(IGIA) returned to normalcy after being shut down for about
20 minutes early Friday following reports of gunfire near
the arrival terminal. While the Central Industrial Security
Force (CISF) denied any untoward incident, the Delhi Police
said investigations were on.
The
alarm was raised after a white Qualis car reportedly breached
a security barrier and tried to approach the arrival terminal
from a restricted road around 1.10 a.m.
Vibhash,
a 25-year-old employee of the Le Meridian hotel who was present
at the airport, told reporters that he heard at least two
gunshots from the direction of the unidentified Qualis car
bearing a Haryana registration number.
“I
have not seen any one firing but definitely heard sounds similar
to gunshots,” he said.
"There
was firing at the international terminal at around 1.25 am,
but nobody was injured," an airport employee told IANS
on condition of anonymity.
When
asked if the Qualis had breached a security barrier at the
terminal, she said: "Yes, it happened."
Following
reports of gunshots, officials of the CISF and Delhi Police,
both responsible for the security at the airport, swung into
action and surrounded the airport.
The
gates of the airport were immediately closed and an intensive
search was launched. Three international flights were delayed
because of the incident. The flight operations have resumed
now as per schedule.
Delhi
Police public relations officer Rajan Bhagat told IANS: "The
two gun shots being heard by CISF constables or others and
the white Qualis speeding away are isolated incidents. They
may or may not be linked."
"The
car has not been apprehended as yet. Investigations and search
for the car are on," he added.
However,
the CISF denied that any such incident had occurred.
"There
is no proof of the reported firing. In our combing operations,
we found no eyewitness to the alleged firing nor did we find
any rounds of gunshots. There are no incidents of injury.
Everything is normal," Udayan Banerjee, CISF deputy inspector
general, told reporters.
"This
was not a terror attack. We are taking every precautionary
measure and there is no need to panic," Banerjee added.
Security
had been tightened in and around IGIA as well as the Chennai
and Bangalore airports after authorities had received intelligence
inputs about a terror threat. Security agencies had been warned
of a possible flight hijack that could lead to another 9/11
like incident.
Even
domestic passengers had been asked to come in three hours
ahead of their flight time to go through an intensive security
check. Security personnel were scrupulously checking all carry-on
and check-in baggage.
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