A bomb threat email reportedly sent to Kolkata’s Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport on Thursday afternoon triggered a search operation by the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), with no suspicious object found at the airport at the latest update available from Anandabazar – Kolkata.
According to the report, the email was received by the airport authorities during the afternoon and claimed that a bomb had been placed inside the airport. The authorities alerted CISF personnel deployed at the facility immediately after receiving the message, following which security teams began a comprehensive search of the airport premises.
The search was still under way when the report was published. Security personnel were checking the airport for any suspicious object, while authorities were also examining whether the email contained false information. The report said the authorities were not willing to take any risk despite an initial possibility that the threat could be a hoax.
The source reported that efforts were under way to identify the person or people who sent the email. Cyber specialists were being brought in to trace its origin and examine the digital trail. The report did not provide details on any confirmed disruption to flight operations, passenger movement or airport access.
Kolkata airport, located in Dum Dum, is a major aviation gateway for eastern India and handles domestic and international passenger traffic. A security alert at the facility can require coordinated action between airport authorities, the CISF and other agencies, even when an initial assessment suggests that the threat may not be credible.
The latest incident follows a series of bomb-threat hoaxes reported at airports across the country in the past two years. According to the source, repeated searches in those cases did not uncover explosives, and the threats were later found to be false. The spread of such messages had prompted the Centre to consider stricter measures to deter the circulation of fabricated security alerts.
Kolkata airport also faced two separate bomb scares in February, the report said. In one case, a threat was written with lipstick inside the washroom of an IndiGo aircraft. In another, a note stating that a bomb had been placed on board was found in the toilet of a different aircraft. Both incidents were subsequently found to involve false information.
The current search at Kolkata airport was continuing at the time of publication. Authorities were expected to complete the security checks and continue investigating the source and authenticity of the threat email.
