India | Updated Apr 03, 2009 at 12:06am IST

Govt issues, withdraws airport terror alert

CNN-IBN

New Delhi: In what may come as a major embarrassment for the Government, an advisory warning various airports of a terror attack has been withdrawn within hours of it being issued.

The advisory, issued by the Director General of Civil Aviation at the behest of the Home Ministry, had very specific “intelligence inputs” of a 9/11-style hijack plot.

Sources say the advisory was withdrawn as the information could not be verified. “Information provided therein has been further assessed and could not be substantiated. Hence, the alert may be withdrawn,” read the withdrawal statement.

While how this alarmist advisory went out is being looked into, sources believe it was a case “someone in the Intelligence Bureau of playing it safe”.

Following the advisory – that said a group of six-seven trained pilots and 30 girls may have crossed over into India, allegedly with an intention of carrying out a 9/11-style hijack drama - security across all major airports was stepped up.

Different layers of security and safety mechanism at airports as well as in the airspace were being assessed and an undercurrent of panic was evident at various airports.

A meeting of senior officials of several agencies, including the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security and the Home Ministry, was held on Wednesday following which the advisory was issued.

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