Panic erupted aboard a Delhi-Goa flight when a passenger rose from his seat and shouted that there were terrorists on board the plane. The man, who was later identified as a resident of Delhi’s Jamia Nagar, also claimed to be from the Special Cell, the anti-terror unit of the Delhi police.
The man was detained as soon as the flight made a priority landing at Goa airport on Thursday. Senior police officers said the man was diagnosed with mental instability and sent to hospital for treatment. HT does not name the passenger due to mental health problems.
The incident took place at 3:15 p.m. on Air India flight AI-883. According to officers from the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), which secures airports, as the flight was about to land at Goa airport, the man stood up and shouted: “There are terrorists on this flight.”
As other passengers panicked, the flight crew tried to intervene. When they asked the man to sit quietly, he told them that he was from the special cell of the Delhi police. An official familiar with the incident said the man did not turn violent on the plane and was calmed down by the crew.
The matter was reported to the chief pilot, who alerted Goa Air Traffic Control (ATC) and requested a priority landing, citing an emergency. ATC gave the flight a priority landing location, which it reported to the Airport Operations Control Center (AOCC) which, in turn, alerted the CISF and Goa police.
“Soon, when the flight landed safely at Goa airport, the CISF commandos stopped the man on the air bridge. CISF personnel and Air India security personnel escorted him to the Dabolim police station, ”said a senior CISF official, who did not want to be named.
Air India declined to comment on the matter.
Pankaj Kumar Singh, Police Superintendent (South Goa), said the man did not appear to be in good mental shape.
“I was traveling alone. When we tried to question him about his act, he didn’t seem right. We had him examined by a doctor and he was sent to the Institute of Psychiatry and Human Behavior (IPHB) in Bambolim, Goa, for medical advice. So far no case has been filed against him, ”Singh said.
During the initial investigation, police discovered that the man had been in treatment for schizophrenia for the past three years.
“We contacted his family members, who told us that he had been alone for the past few months. They said he had studied business administration, after which he fell into a depression and is being treated for schizophrenia. They also said that he had recently stopped taking his medications … ”said a South Goa police officer who did not want to be named.
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