Defused grenade found on aircraft kept as standby for PM Narendra Modi

Mangalore Today News Network

New Delhi, Oct 04, 2014:  In a security scare, the Air India crew on Friday night found a defused grenade in the business class of an Air India jumbo aircraft, which was kept as a standby for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent US visit.

T

The grenade was found on board the Boeing 747-400 which was operating the Mumbai-Hyderabad-Jeddah flight, airline sources said on Saturday.

On landing at Jeddah, the incident was reported to the local security agencies who took over the aircraft, the sources said.

The aircraft was kept on standby at Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi for the PM. However, it was released for commercial operation when Modi landed here on Thursday night.

The aircraft, which has been cleared and released by Jeddah airport security, is still in the city as Indian security personnel were investigating the matter. The plane is likely to return to Calicut soon.

The aircraft had been kept as a standby for the recent US visit of Modi. The Prime Minister had undertaken a five-day visit to the US from September 25.

"A suspicious object was found on board this aircraft. The investigations are on," PTI quoted an Air India spokesperson as saying.