From correspondents in Delhi, India, 11:01 AM IST

A chartered flight from Diego Garcia was Friday made to land at Mumbai by the Indian Air Force after it was found using a false call sign, an IAF official said here.

'All private planes are supposed to use a specific call sign. But this plane was using a call sign generally used by US military aircraft,' the official said.

'Due to this, we realised that it did not have a valid air defence clearance to fly over India,' the official added.

'Following this, IAF aircraft escorted the chartered flight to Mumbai.'

(Staff Writer, © IANS)