Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram
Tags:
Journalism of Courage
With the Perimeter Intrusion Detection System (PIDS) still a month away from being operational at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA), Central Industry Security Force (CISF) officials posted along the perimeter had a major alarm when they caught a man trying to scale the perimeter wall twice on Tuesday evening. This intrusion is the first such attempt to breach the wall this year, according to CISF officials, who are on edge after receiving around 17 or 18 alert messages in December.
CISF personnel spotted a person trying to scale the perimeter wall while patrolling the area in rapid-response team vehicle around 6.30pm on Tuesday. The man was trying to breach the wall from the Gaondevi hutment area in Kurla and when QRT personnel ‘challenged’ him, he jumped out.
“Around seven minutes later, the man climbed the wall and despite being ‘challenged’ by us repeatedly, he jumped into the airport operational area by breaching the airport perimeter wall and PIDS fencing. He was nabbed by CISF officials but tried to run away again and was overpowered,” said an official from CISF.
According to officials, the man was completely naked and had sustained scratches on his body because of the concertina wire fencing on the perimeter wall and PIDS wall. The man was later identified as Vinod Kumar, 23, a resident of Sultanpur district in Uttar Pradesh. He had come to Mumbai for work and was staying with his maternal uncle in a factory in Jogeshwari. “He claimed that he did not know how he landed inside the airport. As the intention of the person was not clear and this is an ‘hyper sensitive’ airport, we cannot rule this out as an act of madness or him as being mentally disturbed so he was handed over to the local police. We have given a written complaint for investigation and further legal action,” an official from CISF said.
Kumar has been sent to Thane mental hospital.
“Kumar was taken to RN Cooper hospital in Juhu for medical examination and then produced before the Andheri magistrate court. The court ordered the police to transfer him to the Thane mental hospital and no FIR has been registered yet,” said Yogesh Shinde, police inspector with the Sahar police.
Meanwhile, the Mumbai International Airport Pvt Ltd and CISF are in the final stages of testing of the PIDS wall.
While the airport has a perimeter of 18.8km, the PIDS wall is 10.8km long, the remaining part being inaccessible because of the Mithi river, and will alert authorities upon such intrusions. At present, around 120 CISF personnel patrol and monitor the perimeter wall with the help of CCTV systems.
mumbai.newsline@expressindia.com
Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram
