Security personnel at the airport had an anxious morning, when an unclaimed bag was found at the same time the defence secretary R K Mathur was flying to Colombo.

According to sources, Mathur had arrived from the capital and was in th process of moving from the domestic terminal to the international terminal to catch his connecting flight at 9.40 am.

CISF personnel who were patrolling the area found a brown suitcase left outside gate no 1 of the domestic terminal.

They called in security forces along with the bomb disposal squad - the bag was removed from the vicinity of the airport and inspected in the parking lot. "When they opened it, they found some clothes and regular travel gear inside, so the alarm was called off and the bag was handed to the airport manager," said a CISF official.

After waiting for the alarm to be called off, the defence secretary proceeded to the international terminal and took his flight, sans delay, TNIE reported.