Aircraft bomb episode: police yet to find leads

Police are looking into the "security lapses" in connection with the crude explosive material detected in the cargo hold of the Kingfisher airline but said the object was not of high density though it could have exploded due to air pressure. Police teams from the city and Thiruvananthapuram engaged in investigations said they were focusing their attention on "security lapses".

"We have not chanced upon any leads so far," Bangalore City Deputy Commissioner of Police (North-East Division) Basavaraj Malagatti told PTI, even as a police official said in Thiruvananthapuram "we are collecting all the details from both the airports for analysis". The investigation would look into all aspects including on how the explosive material made its way into the cargo hold, the source from where it was procured, the official said in Thiruvananthapuram.

The explosive, wrapped in a Malayalam newspaper, was found during a security check of the cargo section of the ATR-72 aircraft after 27 passengers and four crew members, who arrived at Thiruvananthapuram from Bangalore, had deplaned. "We will be collecting all the details from both airports for analysis.

We will be helped by other agencies concerned. However, as the detection was done here, the state police will be playing a vital role in investigations and pursuance of the case", a police official said.

Meanwhile, an FIR drawn up in the case in Thiruvananthapuram said the substance was not of high intensity and forensic analysis showed that it was a mixture of potassium chlorite, ammonia and sulphur. A three-member police team, led by Thiruvananthapuram Police Commissioner M R Ajaya Kumar, visited the Bengaluru International Airport and quizzed all the employees of the airline, viewed the footage of CCTV. Bangalore police were yet to depute their team to the neighbouring state.

Taking the incident seriously, Regional Directorate of Civil Aviation Commission in Chennai issued a fresh set of security guidelines to be followed by airlines. The Commission directed that all staff entering the operational area in the airports should be compulsorily frisked and manual checking of hand baggage intensified in order to scale up security measures.

vpost : 03