Kolkata airport faces second bomb threat in a day— suspicious message written with ‘lipstick’

Hours after a Shillong-bound IndiGo flight was grounded due to a bomb threat that was later confirmed to be a hoax, another security alert emerged on Saturday evening when a suspicious message was found in the toilet of a Dibrugarh-Kolkata flight, PTI reported, citing officials.

“The IndiGo flight 6E 6894 landed safely at 7.37 pm at Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport and was immediately taken to the isolation bay as per security protocol. All passengers were safely deboarded,” the statement said.

The message, reportedly written with lipstick, was found inside the aircraft toilet, "indicating a bomb threat," it added.

Earlier in the day, a Shillong-bound plane was held at Kolkata airport for approximately four hours after a bomb threat was reported.

The IndiGo flight 6E 7304 was moved to the isolation bay after the discovery of a handwritten note claiming that a bomb had been placed on the plane, it said.

The threat was later revealed to be a hoax, and after a thorough search following standard security procedures, the flight departed for Shillong at 1:33 pm.

An Airports Authority of India (AAI) spokesperson stated that one of the crew members found the note in the aircraft’s lavatory around 9:15 am, roughly 15 minutes before the flight’s scheduled departure, PTI reported.

Thereafter, the passengers were safely deboarded, and the aircraft was moved to the isolation bay. Standard security protocols were followed, and a thorough inspection was conducted by the agencies concerned, he said, as reported by PTI.

Last month, on January 23, IndiGo Flight 6E 2608 from Delhi to Pune received a bomb threat when a handwritten note was discovered in the aircraft’s lavatory upon arrival at Pune Airport.

(With inputs from agencies)

Upon completion of all safety checks and clearance by security authorities, the aircraft was declared safe for operations, the AAI spokesperson added.

(With inputs from PTI)