Nepal admits lapses

NEW DELHI, Dec 25 (PTI, UNI) — Nepalese Prime Minister Krishna Prasad Bhattarai today conceded that security lapse at Tribubhan International Airport had led to the hijacking of Indian Airlines airbus from Kathmandu.

“The security at the airport was not up to the mark,” Mr Bhattarai told Star TV while expressing “deep sorrow” at the hijack and the tragic loss of life.

He, however, said the security lapse in the airport could not be construed as a “major failure” of his government.

Mr Bhattarai said his government had initiated steps to plug security loop holes at the Kathmandu airport which was undergoing extensive renovation.

The Nepalese Prime Minister today telephoned Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee to express sorrow at the incident.

He said that the stranded Indian passengers at the Kathmandu airport were being flown to India in a special Royal Nepal Airlines aircraft. This follows total suspension of all Indian airlines flights to Nepal.

Meanwhile, several personnel at Kathmandu Airport, including a Deputy Superintendent of Police, who was in charge of security for this flight have already been suspended.

According to sources in the Nepalese Civil Aviation Ministry, the authorities had some time back received “suspicious calls” from unidentified persons warning of either a hijack or plane explosion.

Besides, some diplomatic missions based in Kathmandu had also warned about possible threats from terrorists close to Osama Bin Laden.

The sources said security had been tightened at the airport lately in view of these threats.

The Indian Airlines operates daily flights on the Delhi-Kathmandu and Varanasi-Kathmandu sectors and flies four times a week on the Calcutta-Kathmandu sector.

A five-member team set up to probe security lapses at Tribhuvan International Airport would be headed by former police chief Hem Bahadur Singh, an AFP report said.

Meanwhile, India today said the security lapse at Tribhuvan International Airport which led to the hijack of the aircraft was “regrettable.”

Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh said India had made its views known to the right quarters but declined to comment on news reports quoting a Nepalese official that the aircraft was carrying the arms before it arrived at the Kathmandu airport.

He said India was in touch with the foreign missions of all foreign nationals who were onboard.

NSG commandos in readiness
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, Dec 25 — The government today put the commandos of the National Security Guard (NSG) on high alert and have directed all major airports in northern India to be ready to handle any emergency situation in case the hijacked Indian Airlines aircraft lands in the country.

An NSG radio-set has been put into operation at Rajiv Gandhi Bhavan here which is in constant touch with the NSG centres at Jammu, Srinagar, Udhampur and Guwahati, the NSG sources said.

Commandos could now be flown to any such place at short notice, the sources said. Any decision taken by the crisis management group (CMG) will be immediately transmitted to these centres in a flash. Codified messages will be handled by radio unit headed by an assistant commandant, the sources said.

While there was information that there was a security report on a possible similar hijack almost a month ago, it would now be up to the crisis management group to take action on the situation. Any decision to sent across the NSG commandos would also have to be taken by the crisis management group.

Last year in July, the NSG commandos had been kept in readiness when the hijacked Pakistani aircraft was speculated to land at Jodhpur.