Claim of 5 Lashkar terrorists on the plane, flight arriving from India to Sri Lanka checked

New Delhi: A Sri Lankan Airlines flight flying from Chennai was subjected to security checks at Colombo’s Bandaranaike International Airport. The presence of five suspected Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists was claimed on the flight. Officials have given this information.

Chennai airport officials had received a threat through an email, which said that five Lashkar terrorists were on board a Sri Lankan Airlines flight. This threat has come at a time when security alertness has already increased in the country after the terrorist attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir on April 22. This email was received by the Chief Security Officer at 11:05 am, which read, ‘There are five South Indian Lashkar operatives on UL 122 (9:55am) flight. Their profile is very clear, they are well trained and no one will suspect them.’

However, by the time this email was received, the flight had already departed. The information received from Chennai was then sent to Colombo airport, where upon arrival, the flight was thoroughly security checked and passengers were disembarked and scanned. Officials said that no suspicious person or activity was found during the check and later the threat was proved to be fake.

A statement issued by Sri Lankan Airlines said that the flight was thoroughly checked and later it was cleared for further operations. The statement said, ‘This search was done in collaboration with local authorities after receiving an alert from the Chennai Area Control Center about a suspect wanted in India.’