Customs officials deployed at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) are reportedly locking horns with the Central Industrial Security Force demanding “special treatment” in the matter of security check procedures as they are government officials. A disagreement over the issue left 160 passengers from Dubai waiting for 40 minutes for baggage clearance on Saturday. After Air India flight AI 952 from Dubai landed at the RGIA at 5.54 am on Saturday, a CISF official stopped a Customs officer heading for the Belt 5 screening area from the arrival route, and told him to get frisked at the right location.
Taking offence at being asked to follow the rule book, the official allegedly refused to do so, leading the Customs staff to stop the baggage from AI 952 from going through for clearance. The Customs staff remained obdurate even after airport officials tried to shift the baggage from Belt 5 to 4. The CISF staff, watching the inconvenience caused to the passengers, and their protests, sent an inspector to pacify the Customs staff. They finally relented and reported for baggage screening at Belt 5 after about 40 minutes.
The X-ray machine at international arrivals is manned by the Customs officials. The Bureau of Civil Aviation Security mandates that all officials going into restricted or security areas have to pass through door frame metal detectors, then hand-held metal detectors (HHMDs), and X-ray scanning for any items they carry and then frisking by a trained certified screener-CISF official. The CISF personnel maintain that “government officials” seeking exemption from security checks violate the rule book at all the airports.