Authorities on Saturday partly evacuated Terminal 2 of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport and beefed up security after an unidentified caller warned that the terminal would be attacked. According to sources, airport authorities received the call around 11 a.m.
Confirming the incident, Additional Commissioner of Police (West region) Manoj Kumar Sharma said, “In light of the call, a thorough search was conducted at the concerned area. Nothing suspicious was found.”
Airport officials said a Bomb Threat Assessment Committee (BTAC) was convened after the call was received. “Levels 2, 3 and 4, which have the meet-and-greet area, airline offices and security hold area, were evacuated as a mitigation measure. After due consideration, the BTAC declared the threat as non-specific,” an officer said.
The officer said the incident did not affect the day-to-day working at the airport, as operations were already suspended due to repair work at the runway intersection. The repair work is being carried out from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday till March 30.
The Sahar police said that as the call was categorised as “non-specific”, no FIR was registered in connection with the incident. The police have deployed additional patrolling units around the airport and are undertaking security exercises in collaboration with the Central Industrial Security Force and the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security, officers said.
The incident comes close on the heels of a similar scare, when Sutherland Global Services, a Navi Mumbai-based private firm that handles the call centre for Air India, received a threat call on February 23. The caller, who spoke in English, had claimed that an Air India flight would be hijacked and taken to Pakistan.
The Bureau of Civil Aviation Security has authorised intensive security measures at the airport, including stricter access control and screening, enhanced checking of vehicles and baggage, and increased patrolling and surveillance.