Ammunition cartridge found on Air India Dubai-Delhi flight, probe initiated

The Delhi Police are investigating a case of security breach after a live cartridge was found in a pocket seat of an Air India flight landing from Dubai recently, PTI reported.

A police officer told PTI that an Air India staff found the live round of ammunition during routine cleaning on a flight on October 27. A first information report (FIR) was registered under the Arms Act and probe has been initiated.

“One ammunition cartridge was found in the pocket of a seat of our flight AI916 after it had landed from Dubai at Delhi on October 27, and all passengers had safely disembarked,” PTI quoted an Air India spokesperson statement.

"A complaint was immediately lodged with the Airport Police by Air India strictly adhering to the laid down security protocols," the statement read.

Hoax bomb threats to Indian flights
The recovery of live round of ammunition comes amid several airlines receiving hoax bomb threats. According to a PTI report, more than 510 domestic and international flights have received bomb threats that later turned out to be hoaxes in the past two weeks.

The pseudonymous or anonymous nature of the social media handle, analysis of the geopolitical situation and presence of VIPs onboard are some of the new criteria that agencies will keep in mind while considering the seriousness of a bomb threat made to Indian airlines.

The new set of guidelines for civil aviation security and intelligence agencies have been issued by the Bureau of Civil Aviation (BCAS) in view of the "evolving security challenges", especially the "emerging trend" of issuing hoax bomb threats through various social media platforms.

A Bomb Threat Assessment Committee (BTAC) is convened at a designated airport to analyse a bomb or security threat issued against an airline, airport or any part of the aviation ecosystem that decides to declare it "specific" or serious or "non-specific" or hoax.