'Bomb threat' on Iranian plane over Indian airspace triggers alert

NEW DELHI: Indian Air Force fighter jets were scrambled to intercept a foreign aircraft with its origin in Iran that was moving towards the New Delhi airspace.

According to sources, inputs were received by security agencies in Delhi about the possibility of a bomb on board, which triggered an alert and permission was not granted to the plane to land in Delhi.

The foreign aircraft was headed to China as its final destination, had entered Indian airspace when the alert from Indian Air Traffic Control was shared with the plane.

Indian Air Force Su-30MKI fighter jets from Punjab and Jodhpur airbases were scrambled to intercept the plane, sources told ANI. The nature of the bomb threat or the name of the Iranian commercial carrier is still unclear.

However, after clearance, the aircraft is now moving towards China and at the time of filing this report, it was over Indian airspace and is being closely monitored by security agencies.

The plane is continuing on its flight path towards China.

More details are awaited on this story.