The officiating Airport Director of MBB Airport S D Barman said, the unattended luggage that was found in the airport on Monday morning and created panic and speculations of bombs was found to be a ‘false threat’.
The luggage was left at the airport by a passenger who had come here from Kolkata by Indigo flight 6E-989. Now hunt was launched to trace the passenger. In the meantime it is being widely speculated that the bag was kept there before the arrival of TMC general secretary Abhishek Bannerjee with design – to create an impression of insecurity in the public. It could be politically inspired mischief. Unconfirmed reports said, the passenger who arrived here in Indigo flight from Kolkata might have already left the state. But police is checking all the CCTV footage and a message was also sent to Kolkata police.
The Airport Director in his message said : In the morning of 22.11.2021 at around 0900 hours, CISF control room received a message from QRT team that there was one unattended hand baggage at the parking area in front of Arrival. The area was immediately cordoned off and evacuated. Dog squad and BDDS team were activated. The sniffer dogs of CISF dog Squad gave a Negative indication for the presence of explosives but the EVD (Explosive Vapour Detector) machines showed the presence of explosives. It was then sniffed by another dog from the State BDDS team which also gave a negative sign for the presence of explosives.
But due to detection of the presence of traces of explosives by EVD machine, BTAC was called at the Airport. CCTV footage were also checked and found that the unidentified hand baggage was left by an arrival passenger who had landed at Agartala Airport by Indigo flight 6E-989. Since the passengers arrived from Kolkata after security clearance, the chance of bomb threat was remote:
Hence BTAC declared it as a Non-Specific Threat and procedures as per SOPs were carried out. ETD tests were conducted and sniffer dogs were also deployed again. Both tests showed negative for the presence of explosives and it was finally inferred that the threat was a FALSE one. However, for the safety of passengers, the suspected bag was shifted to Cooling Pit with the help of MROV and SLVC and will be kept for 24 hours for cooling. Meanwhile, efforts are being made to trace the passenger who left the hand baggage.
