Major tragedy averted at Mumbai airport as bag with flammable chemical catches fire

According to police, the incident took place on Friday morning as passengers’ luggage was being transported to flight ET-641 at Terminal 2 of Mumbai International Airport. Suddenly, one of the bags in the trolley caught fire.

Airport staff immediately extinguished the fire, preventing it from spreading further. The incident caused brief panic among those present.

Further investigation revealed that the bag belonged to a passenger named Sameer Narayan Bishwas (32). The police were promptly informed, and Bishwas was deboarded from the flight.

During the preliminary inquiry, Bishwas disclosed the names of those who had assisted him in bringing the bag with the chemical into the airport premises. Following this, the police arrested four more persons: Nandan Yadav (26), Suresh Singh (46), Vishwanath Senjundhar (37), and Akhilesh Yadav (28) from Mumbai and Navi Mumbai.

The arrests were made following a complaint filed by Rakesh Wakale, the manager of Ethiopian Airlines.

It is suspected that the bag contained an inflammable substance called ‘hydrogen spirit’. A sample of the seized chemical has been sent to a forensic lab to determine its exact nature, according to a police officer.

During interrogation, Bishwas, a resident of West Bengal, claimed that he was traveling to Ethiopia and intended to continue to Congo, where he had recently secured a managerial position. Bishwas informed the police that one Naveen Sharma from Congo had asked him to bring the bag to Mumbai while traveling to Congo.

Nandan Yadav, a resident of Andheri, handed over the bag to Bishwas. Yadav had received the bag from Suresh Singh. Singh, who operates A S Logistics near the airport, stated that Senjundhar had given him the bag under instructions from Congo-based Naveen Sharma, according to the police.

Akhilesh Yadav assisted Nandan Yadav in bringing the flammable chemical to the airport. “All five accused were produced in court on Saturday and have been remanded to police custody for five days,” said DCP (Zone 8) Dixit Gedam.

“We are investigating why the chemical was being taken abroad illegally, risking the lives of other passengers,” another officer said. The police are also examining how much money the accused were paid for the task.

Additionally, the police are investigating potential security lapses, as the accused managed to breach security and nearly get the flammable chemical loaded onto the aircraft.

The accused have been charged under sections 125, 327, and 51 (2) of the Bhartiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS) and section 3(1)(C) of the Suppression of Unlawful Acts Against the Safety of Civil Aviation Act.