Hoax bomb call delays Kalam's flight

Chennai, Sep 4 (UNI) President A P J Abdul Kalam's flight to Delhi was delayed by about three hours following a phone call of explosives on board his special aircraft late tonight.

According to police sources, an anonymous caller rang up the St Thomas Mount Police Control Room and said there were explosives in the plane of Tamil Nadu Governor Surjit Singh Barnala.

Since the Governer was not flying anywhere, the threat was immediately shifted to the President's special Indian Air Force carrier which was to take off at 2300hrs, according to airport sources.

The security personnel at the airport were on tenterhooks and called the bomb detective squad and sniffer dogs and continued a thorough search in the aircraft.

However, no explosives were found and the plane was cleared to take off at 0200 hrs.

The sources said though the bomb threat call was just one of the reasons for the delay in departure of Mr Kalam, who was in the city on a two-day visit.

Meanwhile while the police were trying to trace the caller.

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