MOSCOW, October 4 (RIA Novosti) - Indian security services have found a defused grenade inside of Air India's Boeing 747, kept as a standby aircraft for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to the United States, the Times of India reported Saturday.
"The B-747 was sent on a Delhi-Mumbai-Hyderabad-Jeddah flight. On reaching [Saudi Arabia's] Jeddah in the early hours of Saturday [India time], security agencies there found a defused grenade inside the business class of the aircraft," the newspaper said citing high-profile sources.
The aircraft was reportedly kept on standby in New Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport, ready to take off in case of technical difficulties with the "Jumbo Jet", used by Prime Minister Modi. According to the Times of India, the plane was released for commercial flights following Modi's arrival from the United States on Thursday night.
Indian security services are currently investigating the incident, which may be an exercise arranged by the Indian intelligence to check the alertness of national aviation security, according to the Times of India's sources.
