Police on Tuesday said nothing suspicious was found on the Azur Air Moscow to Goa international flight which was diverted to Jamnagar airport in Gujarat after a bomb threat.
The National Security Guard (NSG) and local police teams completed checking the aircraft on Tuesday morning after the flight made an emergency landing here on Monday night, they said.
The plane is likely to leave from the Jamnagar airport for its destination in a couple of hours, the police said.
The Moscow-Goa flight with 236 passengers and eight crew members was diverted to the Jamnagar airport on Monday night following a bomb threat. It had made the emergency landing at 9.49pm, officials said.
All the passengers and crew members were evacuated safely, they said.
The NSG teams from Ahmedabad and Delhi joined the local police in carrying out the search operation of the plane, including the luggage of passengers, and the process was completed on Tuesday morning, Jamnagar Superintendent of Police Premsukh Delu told PTI.
Nothing suspicious was found on the flight, he said.
The bomb disposal squad of local police began checking the flight on Monday night. Later, the first NSG team arrived from Ahmedabad at around midnight. Another NSG team arrived from Delhi at around 3 am, Delu said.
“The NSG has completed the checking of the flight. The luggage is being loaded and the plane is likely to leave at around 11.30am,” he said.
Jamnagar Collector Sourabh Pardhi told PTI, “The Jamnagar Air Force base informed us about the bomb threat. Perhaps the threat was received by the Goa ATC (Air Traffic Control). The search has been completed and nothing suspicious was found.”
Earlier, Inspector General of Police (Rajkot and Jamnagar Range) Ashok Kumar Yadav had said, “The plane going from Moscow to Goa was forced to make an emergency landing at the Jamnagar airport due to a bomb threat. After landing, all 236 passengers and crew members were deboarded safely. Police, BDDS and local authorities are searching the entire plane,” he said.
An official of the Russian embassy in New Delhi said the embassy was alerted by the Indian authorities about the alleged bomb scare on the Azur Air flight en route from Moscow to Goa.
“The aircraft has made an emergency landing at the Jamnagar Indian Air Force base. Everyone on board is safe. The authorities are conducting a thorough inspection of the aircraft,” the official added.
Meanwhile, a Goa Police officer said the flight that took off from Moscow and was supposed to land at the Dabolim airport in the coastal state was diverted to Jamnagar due to a bomb scare.
The Goa Police has beefed up security in and around the Dabolim airport as a precautionary measure, he added.
“The international flight from Moscow, which was supposed to land at the Dabolim airport, was diverted to Jamnagar due to a bomb scare,” Deputy Superintendent of Police (Vasco) Salim Sheikh told reporters at Panaji.
All the emergency services are kept on standby at the airport, while senior police officers have held a meeting with the airport officials.
