Mock Hijack and Anti-Terror Drill Conducted at Kolkata Airport

Kolkata – In a late-night coordinated security exercise, a simulated aircraft hijack and anti-terror operation was carried out at Kolkata’s Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport. The operation took place on the night of July 18th and lasted until the early hours of July 19th.

The drill began at 9:34 PM on July 18th, when the Air Traffic Control (ATC) received a purported tip-off about the hijack of an A320 aircraft at the airport. The report caused a brief panic, with those onboard the plane, and security agencies, immediately put on high alert.

The National Security Guard (NSG) team was swiftly called to the scene and surrounded the aircraft from all sides. In reality, however, this was a planned simulation to test responses to such an emergency. The exercise involved 75 dummy passengers and crew members playing their parts inside the plane.

The initial cordon was set up by the CISF quick reaction team. Meanwhile, officers from the Intelligence Bureau and Ministry of Home Affairs began negotiations with the “hijackers.” When the negotiations failed, the NSG Counter Hijack Task Force launched a coordinated operation to storm the aircraft. All dummy passengers and crew members were successfully “rescued” and the “hijackers” were neutralized. The exercise came to an end at 2:15 AM on July 19th.

In parallel, an anti-terror drill began at 9:00 PM on July 18th, simulating an armed terrorist attack scenario at the offices of the Airports Authority of India (AAI). In this scenario, 12 employees were taken “hostage” and power was cut to the building. The West Bengal Police’s Special Task Force (STF) surrounded the premises and attempted to enter, facing stiff resistance and simulated casualties. After the conclusion of the hijack operation, the NSG team took over and managed the hostage situation, eliminating six “terrorists” and freeing all hostages. This operation concluded at 4:25 AM.

Officials noted that these drills aimed to test and evaluate the coordination between various rapid response agencies during aviation security emergencies and to assess existing crisis management procedures.