Russian origin military plane violates Indian airspace

MUMBAI: A military cargo aircraft AN-124 of Russian origin carrying ammunitions and five persons on board tonight intruded into Indian airspace and landed at the international airport here.

IAF PRO Wing Commander T K Singha said the plane, which entered the Indian airspace at around 2000 hrs, did not have the permission to fly over the Indian airspace.

The plane was then asked to land at the Mumbai airport which the aircraft did at 2240 hrs, he told CNN-IBN.

Singha described as "untrue" earlier reports that the plane was escorted by Indian Air Force planes up to the airport here.

IAF officials and central intelligence sleuths were questioning the people on board the aircraft.

IAF sources said the plane apparently belonging to the United States took off from Diego Garcia island, a military base near Mauritius in the Indian Ocean, and was headed for Kandahar in Afghanistan.