A “live” bomb was found in an unclaimed bag near a ticket counter at the departure gate of Mangalore airport on Monday. The bomb was defused at a nearby ground, police said.
“According to preliminary reports, a live bomb was found at Mangalore airport today,” Karnataka home minister Basavaraj Bommai said.
A top Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) official from Delhi said the bomb appeared to be a low-intensity IED.
The bomb was removed from the airport and defused at the Kenjaru ground through a controlled explosion by keeping the unclaimed laptop bag in sand packs.
Earlier, CISF personnel had cordoned off the area where the bomb was found and reported the matter to the police.
Mangalore police commissioner P.S. Harsha rushed to the airport along with a team and a bomb detection and disposal squad. He said prima facie the needle of suspicion pointed to a middle-aged man who had come to the airport in an autorickshaw.
The police have released a photo of the suspect, who tried to conceal his identity by wearing a cap. Bommai said an alert had been sounded in all the airports in Karnataka, including those at Bangalore, Mangalore, Hubballi and Belagavi.
