Emergency landing: 3 including a woman detained

THREE DETAINED: Three passengers including a woman have been detained in emergency landing case on Sunday.

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New Delhi: Home Minister P Chidamabaram on Sunday night confirmed that three passengers including a woman have been detained in connection with the mid-air threat to 'hijack' an aircraft.

These passengers were travelling on a Delhi-bound Indigo flight from Goa which made an emergency landing at International Indira Gandhi Airport on Sunday. The pilot of the flight sounded a distress call when the flight was over Jaipur.

The alert said that three passengers were behaving aggressively and were threatening to hijack the plane. This led to the emergency landing of the flight in Delhi.

"We don't know if it was a hijack. There were 163 passengers and six crew members. Three have been detained, we have names but unless they are interrogated and their identity is established we cannot release the names. All passengers are safe. They have been given refreshments and I believe they have now been allowed to go home," Chidambaram tells CNN-IBN.

"The behaviour of these passengers led to a situation where the crew reported that they thought that it was a potential hijack situation. The aircraft was anyway near Delhi and therefore they landed at the airport. All actions were taken and I am relieved and happy that the situation is being resolved and all the passengers are safe. By tomorrow we will be able to tell you more about whether it was indeed a hijack or anything else and what was the role of these three suspects who have now been detained," he adds.

When asked that there are passengers who say there was noone who was acting in any unsual way, the Home Minsiter said "there are different versions" and "it is very premature to say anything".

Though he maintained that as the interrogation is not complete he can't rule out the possibility that it could be a hijack.

"The crew reported that there could be a potential hijack situation and therefore the drill in the case of a hijack has been followed and that is the correct thing to do," says Chidambaram.