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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Indian airports on hijack alert | Indian airports on hijack alert |
| (30 minutes later) | |
| Indian airports are on high alert after Western intelligence reports warned security officials of a possible attempt to hijack an Indian airliner. | |
| The civil aviation ministry said it was tightening security on aircrafts as well on the basis of the intelligence. | |
| Reports say that state-run Air India or other private carriers could be targeted by militant Islamic groups. | |
| The alert comes days ahead of India's annual Republic Day celebrations on January 26. | |
| India has issued a number of terror alerts in the past few years. | India has issued a number of terror alerts in the past few years. |
| But security officials say this year they are being particularly vigilant because the information is more specific. | |
| 'Security tightened' | 'Security tightened' |
| "We have intelligence inputs that there could be a hijack attempt of Indian planes," the AFP news agency quoted UK Bansal, a senior home ministry official as saying. | |
| "So we have alerted the ministry of civil aviation and bureau of civil aviation security and tightened security at all airports in the country." | "So we have alerted the ministry of civil aviation and bureau of civil aviation security and tightened security at all airports in the country." |
| The alert warns of flights from India or flights originating in neighbouring South Asian countries. | |
| A spokesman for the civil aviation ministry, Moushumi Chakravarty, confirmed the alert had been received. | A spokesman for the civil aviation ministry, Moushumi Chakravarty, confirmed the alert had been received. |
| "The information has been passed on to airport authorities and airline offices," AFP quoted her as saying. | "The information has been passed on to airport authorities and airline offices," AFP quoted her as saying. |
| Intelligence overhaul | |
| The BBC's Sanjoy Majumder in Delhi said that passengers will now be subjected to extra screening before they board an aircraft while armed sky marshals will be deployed on certain flights. | |
| Although officials did not name any specific militant group, media reports named groups linked to al-Qaeda or Lashkar-e-Taiba. | Although officials did not name any specific militant group, media reports named groups linked to al-Qaeda or Lashkar-e-Taiba. |
| India blames the deadly Mumbai attacks of November 2008 on Lashkar-e-Taiba. The group has denied any involvement in the attack. | India blames the deadly Mumbai attacks of November 2008 on Lashkar-e-Taiba. The group has denied any involvement in the attack. |
| India is in the middle of a major overhaul of its security and intelligence-gathering apparatus following the Mumbai attacks of November 2008 in which 174 people were killed, our correspondent says. | |
| In 1999 an Air India flight from Kathmandu was hijacked by Islamic militants and taken to Kandahar in Afghanistan. | In 1999 an Air India flight from Kathmandu was hijacked by Islamic militants and taken to Kandahar in Afghanistan. |
| Passengers were only released in exchange for three militants being held in India. |