Patel briefs PM on Kalam frisking

Civil aviation minister Praful Patel, today met prime minister Manmohan Singh and briefed him about the frisking of former President APJ Abdul Kalam, at the Indira Gandhi International  (IGI) airport  by the American Continental Airlines in breach of protocol.
 
Sources said that Patel shared details of the case with Singh and the steps being taken by the government, including lodging of an FIR and issuing of a show cause notice to the airline concerned.
 
An FIR was lodged in the case after the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) approached the police against the staff of the American airliner for carrying out pre-embarkation body check of Kalam, which is in gross violation of a BCAS circular which exempts specified VVIPs/VIPs from security checks.
 
The Civil aviation ministry earlier in the day directed the BCAS to conduct an inquiry into reports about Kalam being frisked by the airline staff on April 21 before he was to board a Newark-bound flight.
 
"As per the FIR, on April 21, Kalam was travelling by Continental Airlines Flight No.CO-083 from IGI Airport to New York. As he proceeded towards the aircraft, the staff of the Continental Airlines carried out frisking of Kalam in contravention of the BCAS rule even as CISF personnel pointed out that he was exempt from such checks," it said.