Meal under burqa sets off false alarm on SpiceJet

A Delhi-Kolkata SpiceJet flight made an emergency landing at the Kolkata airport on Wednesday afternoon,after a burqa-clad Russian woman passenger drew the crews attention for suspicious behaviour.

She and her husband were detained and questioned for long hours before and were set free,drawing in the process a diplomatic intervention from the Russian Embassy. Asal Becov Artur (58) and his wife Albai Evoafle Onara (50) were heading for Dhaka via Kolkata. They were scheduled to board a Kolkata-Dhaka Kingfisher flight in the evening,said a senior CISF official.

According to a senior official of Netaji Subhas Chandra

Bose Airport,the crew of the Delhi-Kolkata flight found their on-board movement suspicious. They informed the captain and soon after,the flight landed around 12.30 pm.

The police were informed and the CISF personnel surrounded the apron area.

A body search,however,revealed nothing suspicious. No incriminating article was found in their luggage either,said Rahul Srivastav,SP,North 24 Paraganas.

Interrogation revealed that they have visited India around eight times earlier. Thereafter,they were released and they boarded the Kolkata-Dhaka flight.

On being asked why the emergency landing was sought,the captain and crew members explained that the woman neither removed her veil when taking refreshments nor spoke throughout the flight. This,coupled with her height 5 feet 8 inches led them to suspect that there might be a man under the veil who was trying to hide his identity.

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Onara told interrogators that her religion forbade her to remove the veil in public.

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