...along with 26 others who were flying to the Gulf Emirate on fake visa from Delhi
...along with 26 others who were flying to the Gulf Emirate on fake visa from Delhiu00a0
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Even before they could board the plane to Dubai, they hit turbulence.
Two calls made within two hours from Dubai threw a spanner in the plans of 27 men who were flying to the emirate on fake visas from Delhi.
A Kingfisher Airlines call centre in Pune received a phone call at around 12: 30 in the afternoon that 12 Bangladeshis would board the Dubai-bound Kingfisher flight at Delhi airport in the evening and might hijack the plane.
Another call was received at around 2 pm at the Jet Airways call centre in Delhi informing that 15-16 people from Bangladesh would board the Dubai-bound Jet flight at Delhi airport. "They have fake travel documents and they would hijack the plane," the call centre was told.
Both the planes were to leave for Dubai within 5 minutes of each other. The Kingfisher flight (IT041) was to leave for Dubai at 7:25 pm, while the Jet plane (9W548) was to take off at 7:30 pm.
Both calls turned out to be hoax, but they sent the security agencies at the Delhi airport into a tizzy with one team each of CISF, Delhi police special cell and IB team reaching the Indira Gandhi international airport to nab the suspected flyers.
A trap was laid and 27 people were arrested who were flying to Dubai on fake visas.
"They were allowed to enter the airport. They came in groups of five or six and approached the check-in counters. We had PNR numbers of the tickets possessed by the suspects. When they approached the immigration counters, the guard on duty identified them and alerted the CISF officials. We did not have to use force to nab them," a top official, involved in the operation, told MiD DAY.
Both the airlines have handed over the recordings of the telephone calls to the security agencies.
Though there was no official confirmation, but sources said five people have also been detained in Dubai in connection with the racket. "The numbers provided by them for tickets were being monitored. At least five people who were in touch with those held in Delhi have been detained by authorities in Dubai. It seems to be a case of rivalry between two groups due to which the racket was exposed," they said.
"The suspects belong to the lower strata of society and claimed to have paid around Rs 60,000 to agents to get visas for Dubai where they were going in search of jobs," sources said.
Some of the detainees are of Bangladeshi origin while the others are from north India and West Bengal. They are being interrogated jointly by the personnel of Intelligence Bureau, CISF and Delhi Police.
When contacted, Deputy Commissioner of Police (IGI) O P Mishra confirmed the interrogation was on and the cops were verifying the antecedents of the detainees.
A Jet Airways spokesperson said that they got a tip-off from security agencies about the racket. "The flight departed on time. The police have detained some suspects," added the spokesperson.
The Kingfisher spokesperson confirmed that a few people have been nabbed by security agencies at the Delhi airport who were about to fly on a Kingfisher flight to Dubai. "Further information in the case is with them," the spokesperson said.
The police are yet to register a case in the matter. No weapons were found on the flyers.
| hit hoax |
| An emergency landing on February 1, 2009 proved to be one of the biggest hoax hijack call in recent times. |
| Face off |
| New hi-tech cameras will be installed in Dubai and Al Maktoum international airports to ensure better security measures as 732 criminal cases have been registered this year by Dubai Police Airport Security. In 2009, there were 1,382 cases. Most of these cases are related to passport forgery. |
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