In a serious security failure at Mumbai’s Chattrapati Shivaji Maharaj International airport on Wednesday, a ticketless traveller was able to enter the passenger building, and pass through multiple checkpoints to reach the airport boarding gate where he was finally stopped.
“It is a massive security breach involving lapses on the part of multiple agencies,” a senior official of the Ministry of Home Affairs told The Hindu. An FIR has been registered against the errant person for trespassing, and a Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) official has been suspended, said sources. The CISF, the Mumbai airport, and the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) are investigating the incident.
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Post-midnight on Wednesday, a male passenger of “unsound” mental health was able to enter the gate of the passenger building by walking closely behind another person. While all gates are equipped with automatic e-gates, the CISF had opened more entry points during the peak rush hours where its personnel were verifying air-tickets and identity documents manually when the incident happened, said a senior CISF official.
At the next checkpoint, which is the pre-embarkation security check area where passengers are frisked and their cabin baggage scanned in x-ray machines, the offender was able to pass through the automatic e-gates by once again tailing another passenger.
He repeated this while entering the immigration check area, where too passengers are required to pass through e-gates. The errant traveller was finally stopped by an airline’s ground staff just before the boarding gate when he couldn’t produce a ticket and handed over to the CISF.
While admitting its fault in allowing the ticket-less person to enter the main building, the CISF official also blamed the Mumbai airport for the lapse as the e-gates inside the passenger building are manned by private security agency (PSA) personnel. He also said that while the manufacturers promise that e-gates will sound an alarm if more than one passenger passes through it at a time (also known as tailgating), there was no alarm triggered.
The CISF has now asked the Mumbai airport, managed by Adani Airport Holding Limited, to ensure more e-gates at the entrance of the terminal building as well as improve e-gates so that there is an alarm in case of tailgating or by reducing the duration for which the gates open after a passenger scans the boarding pass, which is currently at three seconds.
The Mumbai airport declined to comment.
The CISF source expressed concerns over involvement of multiple agencies for security inside an airport, which he said posed challenges in coordination. The above quoted MHA official though said that it was not an issue of coordination, but failure on part of different agencies, with each being independently in charge of different zones.
At the main entry gate, the CISF are responsible for checking the identity and boarding pass of passengers; e-gates manned by PSAs allow entry to the pre-embarkation security area and immigration area; and finally airline ground staff verify the boarding pass before allowing passengers to enter the boarding gate and exit the passenger building.
The National Civil Aviation Policy released in 2016 said that the “government will encourage use of private security agencies at airports for non-core security functions which will be decided in consultation with MHA.” The aim was to allow airports to rationalise their cost on CISF deployment following unpaid bills raised by the security agency.
An order was issued in September 2022 to deploy private security guards at airports for non-core functions such as segregation of passengers at departure and arrival gates, access control/document check in security hold areas, and access to visitor gallery.
Since then Mumbai airport has deployed nearly 300 PSA staff, in addition to approximately 3,500 CISF personnel. The Airports Authority of India has deployed 3,300 PSA staff at 51 airports in the first phase and continues to add more private personnel.
According to a Parliamentary panel report in August 2023, airports owed more than ₹4,700 crore to CISF, out of which ₹3,000 crore was owed by 16 private airports.
The government is also examining a proposal for the creation of a unified security force for all airports in the country along the lines of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) of the U.S., which will combine immigration and customs responsibilities.
