With the increasing number of cases and the changing nature of smuggling and duty evasion at the airport, the custom officials are craving for better security equipments at their disposal.
With the increasing number of cases and the changing nature of smuggling and duty evasion at the airport, the custom officials are craving for better security equipments at their disposal.
The same crunch is being felt by the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), customs and other security agencies which are stationed at the airport. And those benefiting the most from it are smugglers and customs-duty evaders.
Currently, the situation at the Chatrapati Shivaji International Airport, or for that matter the domestic airport, is quite grim. The entry and exits at these premises are not equipped with even a basic metal detector that a passenger can be asked to pass through.
“It has to be understood that post 9/11 and 26/11 the threat perceptions at the airport premises are multi-dimensional and nothing but security in all forms should be of utmost priority,” said a concerned official who spoke on conditions of anonymity.
According to sources the faith being entrusted in the passengers is being rampantly misused by the smugglers, who keep trying their luck to smuggle goods like gold, memory cards, saffron and all sorts of products through the green channel. And they often succeed in smuggling the goods through the green-channel.
“Presently, there is just a baggage screening facility in the green channel. There is the option of doing a manual search, but that can be done only when the passenger or the luggage arouses suspicion. That, however, is quite a tedious process because it needs to be done in the presence of a gazetted officer, a panch-witness and so on,” added the source.
The scene is no better for the CISF which mans the security at the airports. “There are no metal detectors at the entry and exit points of the airport and passengers are scanned only once they proceed for security checks before boarding the flight. But what about the security of the remaining premises? All you need to do is enter the premises with a bag of explosives and it can cause maximum casualties,” said another source.
In fact, an intelligence bureau (IB) report earlier this year had highlighted that the security near the baggage screening and check-in counters at the airport was abysmal and needed to be beefed up.
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