NSG submits report to MHA, calls it a ‘lapse’

Since the incident involved the Prime Minister’s security, the Home Ministry had asked NSG to submit a report on the matter. The Civil Aviation Ministry has formed a committee comprising Air India joint managing director and joint secretary of Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS), which is also conducting its own investigation into the incident.

“The SAG group consists of highly trained commandos who have been drawn from the Indian Army. Such a callous attitude shall not be tolerated. It was an error but when it comes to PM’s security such minute errors also do not have any place,” said a senior MHA official. Officials said they would revise the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) of the anti-hijack drill and try to make it foolproof.

The Boeing B-747 aircraft – AI 965 was stationed at the IGI airport and was on standby for the PM during his US visit. It was sanitised once again by the airline staff after it was to fly for commercial operation on the Mumbai-Hyderabad-Jeddah route.

Soon after the stun grenade was discovered by officials at Jeddah airport on October 4, Air India had said the “grenade” was a plastic cover. Civil Aviation Minister A Gajapati Raju, however, called it a security failure.