New Delhi: A British Airways aircraft, over flying India, made an emergency landing at Delhi Airport early on October 29 when the crew spotted an unclaimed packet and suspected it to be a bomb, a senior police official said.

The Singapore-London flight, BA 061, made an emergency landing at 01:57 hours (IST) at the Indira Gandhi International Airport after the pilot sought permission citing detection of the packet kept on a seat, joint commissioner of police (operations) A S Khan said.

A full emergency was declared at the airport, he said, adding, the aircraft was taken to a separate bay. Police, assisted by Bureau of Civil Aviation security authorities, carried out a thorough search, Khan said.

Passengers were offloaded and taken to a hotel. The object, which was suspected to be a bomb, was found to be a toilet pack containing tooth brush, paste and some other items, he added.

Airport authorities said that the flight has been cleared and is expected to takeoff in an hour or two.

The passengers were granted Temporary visas by the Indian immigration authorities before being shifted to a hotel, they said.

Meanwhile, Civil Aviation Minister Shahnawaz Hussain said, "We cannot take such calls lightly. We have to take all precautions to meet emergency situations every time such a call is made."

This incident is the third one involving aviation security in the past few days.

A Bangladeshi national was picked up by police on October 28 for interrogation on suspicion of being a terrorist after the Civil Aviation Ministry got information that he was travelling by Bangladesh's Biman Airlines.

A call, which turned out to be a hoax, was made to the Patna aivport on October 27 that a bomb has been planted in a Sahara Airlines aircraft.

PTI