Mumbai airport on alert after threat message

Mumbai, Jan 7: An alert has been sounded at the Mumbai international airport here after a message threatening to carry out an attack on the coming Saturday was found scribbled on a wall of a washroom on the airport premises, police said today.

Security inside the airport has been stepped up by the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), while elaborate checks are being conducted outside the premises by Mumbai Police personnel, police said.

The message "ATTACK BY ISIS DATE 10/01/15" had been found written on the wall of a washroom at the Level 2 of Terminal 2 of the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, police said. The CISF, which is responsible for security of the airport, is sifting through the CCTV footage to identify the culprit.

The house-keeping staff was also questioned by the agency, police said. "We have been informed about the threatening message. We are looking into the matter. We are taking it very seriously and checking if it was just a mischief," Deputy Police Commissioner (Detection) Dhananjay Kulkarni said.

Although Mumbai police do not have any specific terror warning, they have been maintaining a strict vigil to secure the city against the backdrop of threat from dreaded terror group Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) looming large over the country.

PTI