Modi's standby aircraft: defused grenade found

New Delhi: In a security scare, a defused grenade was found on Friday night in the business class of an Air India jumbo aircraft, which was kept as a standby for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recent US visit.

The grenade was found by the Air India crew on board the Boeing 747-400, which was operating the Mumbai-Hyderabad-Jeddah flight, airline sources said on Saturday.

On landing at Jeddah, the incident was reported to the local security agencies who took over the aircraft, the sources said.

The aircraft, which has been cleared and released by Jeddah airport security, is still in the city as Indian security personnel were investigating the matter. The plane is likely to return to Calicut soon.

The aircraft had been kept as a standby for the recent US visit of Modi. The Prime Minister had undertaken a five-day visit to the US from September 25.