Indian airports on high alert after hijack threat

Airports across India were on a high alert today following a hijack threat by Kashmiri separatist militants, news reports said.

Civil aviation authorities ordered the heightened security measures after receiving reports from intelligence agencies that unnamed Kashmiri militant outfits were likely to target passenger aircraft, Press Trust of India news agency said.

“All airports in the country have been on high alert for the past four days,” Maushumi Chakravarty, spokeswoman of the civil aviation ministry, said on CNN-IBN television channel.

India’s civil aviation security officials had ordered tightening of security measures at the airports, including additional checks and searches, Chakravarty said.

“Indian airports are on alert all the time. What this heightened alert means is that security levels will be stringent with greater scrutiny of passengers and baggage,” she said.

Airports across India have been on alert since the July train bombings in Mumbai that killed more than 200 people.

A similar alert was issued on December 9 after a warning that a plane flying to the United States might be hijacked by Kashmiri rebels.