Airport security raises questions

MUMBAI, SEPT 24: A recent baggage theft at the check-in counter at the Santacruz domestic airport has turned attention on the porus secur...

MUMBAI, SEPT 24: A recent baggage theft at the check-in counter at the Santacruz domestic airport has turned attention on the porus security offered to passengers, despite the authorities claims to the contrary. However, the incident, on September 19, has caused alarm as it did not take place at the terminal8217;s entrance but within the security-ridden sanctum of the check-in area.

Chairperson of the Synthetic amp; Rayon Textiles Export Promotion Council, Ganesh Gupta, was travelling to Udaipur on an Alliance Air flight scheduled to leave at 5.10 pm, when he went to collect his boarding pass from check-in counter No 17 at around 4.30 pm. However, he discovered his baggage was missing.

8220;I placed my briefcase containing my passport, traveller8217;s cheques and some Rs 5,000 in cash on a trolley and went to the check-in counter to obtain my boarding pass. I turned around in less than a minute and the trolley had disappeared,8221; says Gupta.

Worse than losing the briefcase was Gupta8217;s shock at the indifference ofairport authorities. 8220;I immediately raised an alarm but the Indian Airlines manager on duty and his subordinates were quite indifferent and took me to the the Airports Authority of India AAI duty manager after I lost my temper,8221; said Gupta, who finally cancelled his flight.

After nearly 20 minutes, the Santacruz airport police was summoned to register a First Information Report. 8220;I am usually careful about my luggage and it was only after reaching the check-in counter that I relaxed,8221; said Gupta. 8220;If the airport authorities had taken immediate action, the briefcase could perhaps have been traced,8221; he remarked. If thieves can operate with such impunity at the airport, what about anti-national elements,8221; he wondered.

An Indian Airlines spokesperson told Express Newsline that as the crime took place within the airport, the AAI and the airport police are the authorites concerned. 8220;We duly intimated the AAI staff about the crime,8221; he said, adding that the responsibility of hand-baggage restssolely with passengers.

The Santacruz airport police said investigations are underway. 8220;Just three days before this incident, we nabbed a bag-lifter, 38-year-old Manas Kumar Surendra Das, as he was fleeing from the domestic terminal. He had snatched the bag of an 80-year-old woman,8221; said detection officer, Sub-Inspector Rajan Chavan. With the arrest of Das, four earlier cases of baggage thefts, involving Rs 20,000 in goods and cash, have also been solved.

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The modus operendi is simple. The bag-lifters buy an entry ticket for Rs 15 and enter the visitors8217; gallery. They then sneak into the guarded check-in area, keeping a watch for unaccompanied passengers. During an unguarded moment, they make off with the baggage.

The nexus between some airport employees and thieves came to light recently with the arrest of two AAI technicians who stole a 29-inch colour television set from the security hall of the airport. The duo, Ravindra Kasurde 27 and M Chandra Mali 30, had smuggled the television set out ofthe airport on the pretext of repairing it from under the nose of the airport security last month. They are out on bail.