Unclaimed bag found at Amritsar international airport, sparks panic

Amritsar, Jul 21: Panic gripped the international airport here today after an unclaimed piece of baggage arrived on a SpiceJet flight from Dubai, forcing authorities to take all anti-bomb threat measures including deploying the Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad to deal with any situation.

The unclaimed baggage, however, was later found to be belonging to an Indonesian national who had "missed" boarding her SpiceJet flight SG 056 with 183 passengers on board at Dubai despite clearing security and immigration checks at the Dubai Airport.

The bag was found unclaimed soon after all the passengers arriving by this flight claimed their baggage from the conveyor belt but no flier came to collect the particular baggage, officials said, adding the BDDS was immediately called to check the baggage.

Security personnel also carried out an extensive search of all other baggage of the passengers arriving by the SpiceJet flight. But "nothing" suspicious was found in the unclaimed baggage, officials said.

"On July 21, a passenger Idinirinkarlina Btnanang (holding Indonesian passport) travelling on SG 056, Dubai to Amritsar did not board the aircraft after clearing immigration, security and boarding checks. She reported back after the flight's departure," SpiceJet said in a statement.

According to the airline, Dubai Airport officials informed the flight commander about the unaccompanied checked-in baggage on board who, in turn, requested the Amritsar ATC officials for Isolated parking stand.

"The baggage of Idinirinkarlina Btnanang has been identified and will be handed over to her/relevant authorities," the airline said. SpiceJet also expressed regret to the fliers for the inconvenience caused to them due to the incident, it said.

PTI