7 dummy bombs in 4 days: Mystery deepens after another fake mobile IED found at Delhi airport

After the detection of a series of dummy IEDs at Mangalore and Delhi airports in the last three days, aviation security are in a fix today after a similar dummy IED was recovered from a Pune-bound baggage at Delhi airport.

A security personnel from a private agency detected an assembled mobile power bank at level 4 of IGI Airport's Terminal 1 during the screening of the baggage.

The baggage was registered under the name of a person identified as Sheikh Firoz Shabbir. This is the seventh dummy IED device recovered from airports in less than a week's time.

The passenger who was travelling to Pune by Go Air has been detained and is undergoing interrogation.

The dummy IED was found during screening of baggage at T1.

Meanwhile, the spate of incidents related to recovery of dummy IEDs concealed in devices akin to power banks is yet to abate.

Alarmed by the incident, the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security has shot off a letter to the National Investigation Agency and Intelligence Bureau to probe the intent and people behind the devices.

The preliminary assessment by the agencies is that the devices are suspected to be a part of an attempt to test the security matrix and identify weak spots.

"All recoveries involve devices which were being pushed either through checked-in baggage or cargo shipments which go into the hold-area of the aircraft. Even a small explosive device in the aircraft can be extremely dangerous," said a security expert.

The agencies are also looking at another curious angle in the detections. All the detections involve flights operated by India's largest domestic carrier IndiGo.

A senior IndiGo official preferring to speak off the record said that the airline is fully co-operating with the investigating agencies.