Since February, eight people have been caught who had gained access on fake or cancelled tickets to see of their relatives
Rajnish Malik didn't know that seeing off his daughter at the Delhi airport would land him in police custody and treated as a suspect. The man's suspicious movements were spotted by security personnel inside Terminal 3 (T3) on Friday, after which he was held by the sleuths of Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) guarding the airport. On being questioned he revealed that he gained access to the terminal on a fake ticket, to see off his daughter who was flying to Dubai, alone.
At the time when the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport is facing high security alerts, stopping passengers from entering the airport terminal on fake tickets has emerged as another mammoth task for the security agencies. Thursday's case is not the only one. Since February, eight people have been caught who had gained access on fake or cancelled tickets to see of their relatives.
"The man was without his baggage and had been roaming around inside terminal for quite some time. This brought him under our suspicion. Probe revealed that his booking was made with his daughter on the same PNR and he had cancelled his ticket. The airline was also roped in after which he accepted in writing that he had gained illegal entry to see off his daughter. He was handed over to Delhi Police and a case was registered," said a senior CISF officer.
Booked tickets that are later cancelled are shown as legitimate ones are being used to gain entry into the airport. This has become a major concern for security agencies as CISF staff has no means to detect it at the entry level.
Sources said that the Bureau of Civil Aviation of Security of India (BCAS) with other security agencies has been working on how to get rid of this menace which can also cause severe security threat to passengers. The authority has approached airlines to get a unified barcode on all airline tickets and which can be scanned to differentiate between the fake and genuine tickets, said a senior officer.
CISF is expected to soon be equipped with a hand-held bar code scanner at the entrance of the IGI terminals to keep a check and be able to differentiate between a fake and genuine ticket.
Senior officers say that the airport's security plan is such that it allows a passenger to enter the terminal without undergoing any thorough security check.
Airport officials said that there are three security plans provided by the International Civil Aviation Organisation – Security Hold Area (SHA),concourse and boarding gate plan. They say, while the concourse plan ensures thorough frisking of passengers as well as their luggage at the terminal entry, the boarding gate plan requires checking and frisking only at the boarding gates.
Out of three, the IGI airport follows SHA security plan under which a person does not have to undergo frisking before entering the terminal building.
Senior CISF officers say a strict system needs to be put in place for screening people. Last year in Aprilr police had arrested a foreigner who had sneaked in to see off his girlfriend. IGI is flooded with foreign tourists and Indian passengers during peak hours. Any leniency in the security plan may endanger lives. The issue has been raised many times but no solution has been worked out yet, said a senior CISF officer.
More than 50 people were caught holding fake tickets in 2015 and 2016 as well.
LOOPHOLES
- A passenger can enter the terminal without frisking
- No checking of tickets, frisking up to the security hold area
- No equipment with CISF to check if tickets are genuine
RECENT INCIDENTS
2017
Feb 4: An Afghan national was caught who had entered the T3 to see off his friend, another Afghan national
Feb 3: Four Indian passengers including two women were handed over to the police after it was realised that they had gained entry to the terminal on fake ticket to see off their relative
2016
May 9: A father-son duo caught at airport with fake tickets
April 12: Six arrested at the terminal without tickets
April 4: A foreigner arrested for sneaking into the airport to see off his girlfriend with a fake Delhi-Frankfurt ticket
March 28: A 23-year-old man was arrested after he managed to sneak in with a pistol up to the security hold area (SHA) of IGI airport near the check-in counters at international Terminal
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