Rafale fighters, radars activated and forces on high alert – This is how India provided safe passage to Sheikh Hasina
As the situation unfolded after the ouster of Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s government, Indian security agencies were ready for any contingency as she was headed towards India for safety in Bangladesh’s Air Force jet.
The radars of the Indian Air Force were actively monitoring the air space over Bangladesh and detected a low level flying aircraft coming towards India at around 3 PM, reported ANI.
The aircraft was allowed to enter the Indian air space as the air defence personnel knew who was inside the plane, they said.
In order to provide security to the plane, two Rafale fighter aircraft from the 101 squadron from Hashimara air base in West Bengal were patrolling the air space over Bihar and Jharkhand as the Bangladesh’s aircraft flew across India, the sources said.
The aircraft was on its flight path to Delhi and was closely monitored by the agencies on ground with constant communication between it and top Indian security officials on ground, the sources said.
The Indian Air Force and the Army chiefs Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari and Gen Upendra Dwivedi, respectively, were monitoring the situation very closely.
A top level meeting of top security officials was also held with the involvement of intelligence agency chiefs, Gen Dwivedi and Integrated Defence Staff chief Lt Gen Johnson Philip Mathew.
As Hasina’s jet landed at Hindon air base at around 5:45 PM, she was met by National Security Advisor Ajit Doval who held an hour long meeting with her and discussed the current situation in Bangladesh and her future course of action.
The NSA then left the airbase in the evening to brief the Cabinet Committee of Security meeting led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The PM was kept informed about the developments throughout the day.
