Security beefed up at Bagdogra Airport after duo carrying explosive like substance arrested

A sniffer dog was pressed into service following which there were indications of the substance likely being explosive in nature.

Darjeeling, September 22: Within 24 hours of the bomb scare at the Delhi and Mangaluru Airports, security at Bagdogra Airport in North Bengal was beefed up after two passengers were apprehended with explosive like substances kept in their baggage.

Bagdogra is an International Airport. Located 9km from Siliguri, the airport operates from a civil enclave located in the Bagdogra Air Force Station.

The Airbase is responsible for combat air operations over North Bengal and Sikkim. The base also caters to all military air traffic for the Indian Army's 33 Corps based in Sukna.
The duo were to board an Indigo flight to Kolkata on Friday afternoon. During baggage check, the Central Industrial Security Force personnel, in charge of security at the airport noticed white substances in medicine vials, in their baggage.

A sniffer dog was pressed into service following which there were indications of the substance likely being explosive in nature.

Abhay Prasad and Anup Singh, both residents of Bihar were apprehended. The Bagdogra police station was intimated. The duo was then handed over to the police.

"They claim to be residents of Patna, Bihar. They have further claimed that they work in a pharmaceutical company (manufacturing unit) in Gurugram, Haryana. We are cross-checking and verifying their claims. The two have been arrested and the ampoules seized. We will send the samples to the forensic labs for test. We have also sought the help of the CID" stated a police official.

The duo were interrogated by different security agencies.

Incidentally, six dummy Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) were discovered at Indira Gandhi International Airport, Delhi and the Mangalore airport. Five of these fake IEDs were detected during scanning of cargo shipments at Delhi airport on Thursday.

A suspected IED was detected at Mangaluru airport recently which later turned out to be a self-made power bank.

OneIndia News