Toy grenade tests IGI cargo security

There was a minor security scare at the export cargo terminal of the Indira Gandhi International Airport when the security staff of the private airport operator spotted a hand grenade during the X-Ray screening of a postal packet late on Tuesday evening.

There was a minor security scare at the export cargo terminal of the Indira Gandhi International Airport when the security staff of the private airport operator spotted a hand grenade during the X-Ray screening of a postal packet late on Tuesday evening.

The incident came to light at about 7.45 pm on Tuesday,and the suspect packet was then put to screening by the Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad of the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security. As a precaution and a standard operating procedure,the suspect packet was put into a cooling pit overnight. The packet was scheduled on Air Indias AI 111 flight to London for September 1, the BCAS source said.

The packet was opened for inspection by the BCAS on Wednesday morning,and it contained a metal toy,which turned out to be a replica of a hand grenade,put in gift packing and a carton. It was later established that the suspect packet originated in the US and bore postage of $12.48. It was also established that the said packet had originated in New York on August 25 and the declaration slip with the packet said it was a metal toy.

The recipient address of the packet was established at Durham County in the UK. The said packet was first received at the Delhi International Mail Centre in Vasant Vihar,from where it was forwarded to the sorting section of the postal department at the IGI Airport Cargo Complex,which had further put it up for screening. The BCAS said there was no threat from the item. However,it is not clear how a package sent from US to UK ended up in Delhi.

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