M A I N   N E W S

Bomb scare delayed return of IA plane

MUMBAI, Jan 1 (PTI) — An engine snag and later a bomb scare delayed the arrival of the hijacked Indian Airlines A-300 aircraft from Kandahar to Delhi this morning.

The ferry flight, under the command of Capt J.R.D. Rao, landed at in Delhi shortly after mid-day after a thorough check was carried out, airport officials here said, adding the bomb scare turned out to be a hoax.

Last night, the pilot of a Jet Airways Ahmedabad-Mumbai flight intercepted a message about “a bomb on board the aircraft at Kandahar and likely to go off after midnight.” Unable to trace the caller of the message, he informed his airline staff who in turn informed Indian Airlines officials present at Mumbai airport.

Plane ‘didn’t carry body’

NEW DELHI, Jan 1 (PTI) — The government today denied that any dead body was recovered from the hijacked Indian Airlines Airbus after it returned here from Kandahar.

External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh told reporters here that no dead body had been recovered from the plane which had come back from Kandahar. “This is baseless,” he said when asked whether the hijackers had killed one of their partners and left the body there.

Last night a report had stated that one of the hijackers had been killed in the plane by their accomplices before they left the aircraft.