A Gujarati jeweller was detained today for allegedly planting a note about hijackers and a bomb in the toilet of a Mumbai-Delhi Jet Airways flight, forcing the plane to make an emergency landing in Ahmedabad, officials said.
Flight 9W 339, which had taken off from Mumbai at 2.55 am with 115 passengers and seven crew members, was diverted to Ahmedabad airport around 3.45 am.
The Boeing 737-900 plane was parked at a remote bay and all 122 safely deplaned, a Jet Airways spokesperson said.
The note, allegedly placed by Mumbai-based Gujarati jeweller Birju Kishore Salla, stated that there were hijackers and a bomb in the cargo area, officials said.
It was a printed note in Urdu and English, asking that the plane be flown straight to POK (Pakistan Occupied Kashmir). It ended with the words, "Allah is Great".
The reference to POK made investigators suspicious because Pakistan-based terrorists call the area 'Azad Kashmir', an official said.
Salla, who is in his late 30s and belongs to Gujarat's Amreli district, was a repeat offender who usually travelled business class and appeared to have a grouse against the airline.
He had carried a cockroach in an earlier trip and blamed the airline. However, the airline had let him go after taking an assurance that he would not repeat the offence, an official privy to the investigation said.
"Salla was detained by police after preliminary investigation... It was revealed that Salla had put the threat letter in the plane's washroom. We will take necessary action against him," added an Ahmedabad Police official.
Union Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju said he was advising airlines to put him on the no-fly list immediately, in addition to other statutory criminal action.
"I am informed that the person responsible for Jet flight 339 (Mumbai-Delhi) incident causing the landing at Ahmedabad today morning has been identified," Raju said in a tweet but did not identify him.
Security officials said nothing was found after a thorough check of all the passengers and their bags.
Describing the note as a bomb threat, an official of the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) told PTI that the message was passed on to the pilot, who is believed to have pressed the hijack alert button, following which the plane made an emergency landing.
The flight was "diverted to Ahmedabad following declaration of an emergency as per established security procedures, due to the detection of an onboard security threat", the Jet Airways spokesperson said.
Giving details of what had happened, Ahmedabad Airport Director Manoj Gangal added that the flight was allowed to make an emergency landing on the pilot's request.
"The pilot requested the ATC to make an emergency landing as he suspected that some hijackers as well as explosives were on board. The flight later left for its destination after a thorough investigation by the police," Gangal said.
PTI correspondent Rajkumar Leishemba, who was on board, said all the passengers were deplaned and screened. They were profiled, their photographs taken and personal details sought, including their last overseas visit.
After more than six hours at the airport, the flight carrying the passengers took off for Delhi around 10.30 am, he said.
The note, with a para in Urdu on the top and English at the bottom, was shared by a senior official.
"Flight No 9W 339 is covered by Hijackers and aircraft should not be land and flown straight to POK. 12 people on board. if you put landing gear you will hear the noise of people dying. dont take it as a joke. Cargo area contains explosive bomb and wl blast if you land Delhi (sic)," it said.
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