Freshly cooked food at restaurants inside the Indira Gandhi International Airport is now a thing of the past. After the Delhi Police sent out a circular recently, stating that the use of cooking gas and glass bottles makes the airport more vulnerable during a terror attack, food joints inside the international airport now get pre-cooked food, which is heated just before serving.

The Delhi Police claims to have received specific intelligence inputs about the IGI Airport being targeted for an attack. Following this, the security force recently sent a letter to all food joints operating inside the airport to stop the use of cooking gas.

“The licence for restaurants that is issued by the Delhi Police does not generally have a clause pertaining to restricting the use of cooking gas. A clause to ban the use of cooking gas and glass bottles has been added specifically in the airport sector, and all restaurants operating inside the terminal have been intimated,” a senior police officer said.

Police officers said cooking gas, together with cylinders, can be misused in times of high-threat situations at the airport. Glass bottles, they said, can easily be turned into sharp weapons to cause damage. “The ban is to make the airport secure at a time when the threat perception is already very high,” the official said.

Airport operator DIAL confirmed that food joints inside the international airport are not using cooking gas inside the terminal building in the wake of the ban.

DIAL spokesperson Arun Arora said: “Restaurants inside the airport are not using cooking gas anymore. Cooked or semi-cooked food is brought in from outside and prepared or heated inside the airport using microwave ovens or other electric equipment.” Glass bottles continues to be sold at the duty-free shops.