Pahalgam Attackers Spotted? Colombo Airport In Lockdown For Special Search Ops After India's Tip-Off

Colombo: The Bandaranaike International Airport in Sri Lanka's Colombo has been placed under a lockdown after a tip off was received from India about suspected terrorists behind the Pahalgam terror attack travelling in a Sri Lanka airlines flight.

A Sri Lankan Airlines Flight UL 122, which took off from Chennai, has been subjected to a special search operation at the Bandaranaike International Airport in Colombo after information was received from India that suspected terrorists behind the Pahalgam attack were in the flight.

According to Sri Lanka media reports, Flight UL 122 was subjected to a high priority security search at the BIA after an alert was received from Chennai area control centre.

The flight which is being operated by 4R-ALS arrived in Colombo from Chennai at 11:59 AM today and underwent a comprehensive security inspection upon arrival.

The search was conducted in coordination with local authorities following an alert from the Chennai area control centre concerning a suspect wanted in India who was believed to be on board.

Following a thorough inspection, the aircraft was cleared for further operations. However, the mandatory security procedure resulted in a delay to the subsequent scheduled service, Flight UL 308 to Singapore.

SriLankan Airlines said it prioritises the safety and security of its passengers and crew and is committed to maintaining the highest standards at all times.

As a search operation is underway, the Chennai airport authorities say that they did not find anything suspicious in the flight.

Chennai area control centre authorities said that they sent a mail to the Sri Lanka authorities after they got an intel from an unknown email id. However, by the time Chennai control centre received a tip off, the flight had left from Chennai. But the plane was subjected to a special search operation at the Colombo airport by Lankan authorities.

The flight was later checked there and also left to Singapore after 2 hours delay when they did not find anything inside the flight.

After a thorough search operation, authorities did not find anything suspicious on the flight and cleared the aircraft for its forward journey to Singapore.

Meanwhile, the Airport Authority of India (AAI) has said that the cyber cell was probe whether the email was authentic or not.