Mangalore/Kochi, Jun 28: International Airports in Mangalore and Kochi were put on high alert after Cochin International Airport (CIA) received threatening calls stating that it would be attacked by terrorists with AK-47s, a top airport official said.
CIA Director A K C Nair said that the security would remain high and the red alert would continue till Monday.
The CIA on Friday evening received four bomb threat calls, sending the security personnel into a tizzy. The caller - a male voice - had claimed that a bomb had been placed on the airport premises. But a detailed search by police and airport security confirmed that the calls were hoax.
Airport officials said they received four calls between 5pm and 6pm at the air traffic control (ATC) tower's landline. Manager - public relations and corporate communications PS Jayan said they could trace one of the four calls to Saudi Arabia. "Each time the caller called, he spoke in different languages - Malayalam, Tamil, Hindi and English. The airport was put on red alert from 5pm," he said.
The two-tier frisking was raised to three-tier frisking while authorities directed to conduct cargo X-ray scanning twice instead of once to avoid any untoward incident.
At the time of going to the press, a full troupe of police led by Ernakulam district police chief (rural) Satheesh Bino is camping at the location. Airport authorities said no flight was delayed.
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