Intelligence agencies have placed India's Indira Gandhi International Airport on heightened security after receiving terrorist threats of a possible hijack attempt on a Kabul-bound Air India flight from Delhi to Afghanistan.
The security crackdown comes after a phone call was made to state-owned Air India's Kolkata office on Sunday, in which an anonymous caller revealed that one of the carrier's planes would be targeted by Al-Qaeda and Islamic State extremists, according to local media reports. Given its proximity to the offices contacted by the caller, Kolkata's NSC Bose International Airport is also currently on high alert.
"After the alert was issued by central intelligence agencies, all possible security measures are being put in place to prevent a hijack attempt. Security at all airports across the country has been increased," a government official told The Indian Express.
The threat perception is also based on "specific inputs" received by Indian intelligence agencies, warning them that militants linked to the Taliban and the Islamic State group could target India ahead of U.S. President Barack Obama's visit later this month to attend India's Republic Day parade on Jan. 26.
Although the unidentified caller failed to specify a particular flight, airports across the country were still put on high alert by India's Bureau of Civil Aviation Security, such as the deployment of sky marshals on flights in and out of the country, increased security checks for travelers, additional monitoring of all flights to Afghanistan, and an increase in the number of police officers working outside the airports, The Times of India reported.
"We are conducting a second security check of passengers just before they enter the aircraft. Once the passengers are seated in the plane, our crew has been instructed to get the cabin baggage verified with the passengers again," an Air India official at Indira Gandhi International Airport reportedly said.
Last week, an Indian coast guard ship intercepted a Pakistani fishing boat suspected of carrying explosives in the Arabian Sea. After nearly an hour-long chase, the four occupants of the vessel blew themselves up near the India-Pakistan maritime boundary, about 365 kilometers (230 miles) west of the Indian town of Porbander.
"The boat and persons on board could not be saved or recovered. The boat burnt and sank in the same position, in early hours of January 1," the statement said, predicting that it could have been a New Year's attack on an Indian navy base or a coastal town.
Following the incident on Wednesday, security forces believe militants from Al-Qaeda and ISIS are involved in targeting the region, the International Business Times reported.
Earlier in 1999, militants of the Pakistan-based Harkat-ul-Mujahideen had hijacked an Indian Airlines flight from Kathmandu to New Delhi with 176 passengers on board and diverted the plane to Kandahar, Afghanistan, which was then under Taliban's control.
The hostages were eventually freed after the Indian government released three Islamist militants imprisoned in the country, according to UK MailOnline.
