Bengaluru's Kempegowda International Airport.
Credit: DH File Photo
New Delhi: Nine incidents of theft during the screening process were reported in airports in India this year with Bengaluru topping the list with four such cases, the Lok Sabha has been informed.
Besides the four instances of theft at Bengaluru's Kempegowda International Airport, one each incident has been reported from Delhi, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Nagpur and Rajkot airports between January 1 and November 27.
This was disclosed by Minister of Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol in a written reply earlier this month to questions raised by Congress MP Gurjeet Singh Aujla. Mohol said as and when such incidents are brought to notice, complaints are lodged with local police, which takes further action.
The Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) has mandated that all areas of the terminal building of the airports should be covered by CCTV coverage. Close co-ordination is being maintained between CISF and the airline security staff to track any suspicious movement.
To prevent incidents of theft at the airports, Mohol said several steps have been taken, including frisking of ground handling staff while leaving the airports and deployment of airline security staff in the baggage makeup/breakup area (BMA/BBA) around the cargo-hold area of the airline.
The establishment of CISF help desks for receipt of complaints of theft from passengers and deployment of trained personnel at CCTV Control Room to keep a close watch by CCTV are also being done, he said.
Airlines have been told to perform effective supervision of its security staff to frisk and check loaders engaged in loading and unloading of baggage from the baggage makeup area to aircraft and vice versa.
Foot patrolling is also being done by Aviation Security Group and Airport Security Unit (APSU) staff at departure and arrival forecourt area as well as BMA and BBA.
The Centralised Public Grievance Redress And Monitoring System (CPGRAMS) portal, Integrated Grievance Redress Mechanism (INGRAM) portal and Air Sewa mobile app/web portal of the government serve as the mechanism for lodging complaints/grievances by the air passengers, including complaints regarding mishandling of luggage, Mohol added.