Dummy bomb beats airport security
NEWDELHI:A bag with a bomb went undetected through New Delhi airport’s security checks.
Luckily, it was a drill. But the Central Industrial Security Force personnel guarding one of India’s busiest airports flunked the test this April.
The Bureau for Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) did mock checks at New Delhi, Pune and a few other airports over the past three months. The paramilitary force called the drill “far from reality”, saying it was conducted wrongly.
Parts of an improvised explosive device were put in a hand bag without a detonator and civil aviation officials entered the airport easily with it. Checks conducted on hand baggage for an Air India flight to Jammu on April 18 also failed to detect the dummy. The CISF was informed later about its failure. The CISF checks only hand baggage with the help of scanners after check-in.
“On April 28, a BCAS representative put his hand baggage and after security clearance he claimed the baggage contained an IED. Our staff clarified the image on the X-ray machine did not show any sign of an IED or its components,” a CISF officer said.
BCAS officials showed a washing soap, a small inert tube and two batteries kept separately.
“Such covert IED test piece should comprise the essential components like dummy detonators, fuse, switch, battery and items such as plastic explosive, but not the real thing. However, in this case, the claimed IED test piece did not have the components and was not an IED in the real sense,” the CISF officer said.