One person on board the Delhi-bound Aliance Air Boeing 737 has been detained in connection with the hijack drama that took place on Wednesday night, the city police commissioner M N Singh said on Thursday.
Identifying the detainee as Sharma, the police chief, who was in constant touch with his Delhi counterparts, said the NSG commandos who stormed into the cockpit apprehended Sharma and were questioning him. The trouble started when Sharma tried to enter the cockpit of the plane, Singh told reporters after a high-level meeting at the domestic terminal of Chhatrapati Shivaji international airport in Mumbai.
It all happened when a passenger named Sharma tried to enter cockpit claiming to be a staff member. The crew tried to prevent him that led to confusion and the pilot pressed the emergency button presuming it was a hijack attempt, He said. Meantime, the air traffic control, Ahmedabad, flashed a message that the plane had been hijacked, Singh said.
He said he also spoke to Shiv Sena MP Chandrakant Khaire who was inside the aircraft. The Sena MP said everything was okay but we are not allowed to go out, Singh added. Emphasising that the hijack drama was neither a hijacking nor a mock exercise but a false alarm, Singh said there was no security lapse on part of the Mumbai Police.
Security in the state and specially at the aiprorts have been put on high alert following September 11 terrorist attacks on the US, He said.
Singh said the airports are sensitised. However, over sensitisation might create problems sometimes. But we cannot be complacent, He added. Bureau Report