All major airports in South India have been put on high alert following an alert by the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS). In an alert, the BCAS has warned that the terror groups may attack an airport in the South.
International airports in Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kochi, Mangalore, Chennai and Thiruvananthapuram have been put on high alert. The local police have been asked to increase the random checking of all vehicles and the passengers near the airports and the roads leading to these airports.
The BCAS has warned all southern airports of potential car-bomb attacks. According to intelligence sources, the arrest and interrogation of an ISI agent, who is a Sri Lankan national at the Chennai airport, last week has revealed a plot. According to these sources, the ISI is planning to attack an airport or a vital installation in the South.
The warning assumed more significance after the May 1 blast at the Chennai Central Railway Station that killed a 24-year-old passenger of the Bangalore-Guwahati Express and left 14 others injured.
“In view of the above, the following security measures are required to be strengthened by all agencies concerned to prevent any act of unlawful interference with civil aviation operations,” Sharath Srinivas, regional deputy commissioner, BCAS, wrote in a letter.
According to police sources, the measures include strict access control to regulate entry into the terminal buildings and all other aviation facilities, city-side counter-terrorist measures, enhanced random screening at entry points to terminal buildings and stringent secondary screening of passengers before boarding. BCAS has also asked the airports to check vehicles entering car parks to prevent the possibility of car-bomb attacks.
The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) has already asked all Airport Security Groups at 59 airports to tighten access-control, re-inforce quick reaction teams and undertake multiple screening of suspect passengers.
The central intelligence agencies fear that Pakistan backed terrorists are trying to sneak into major cities in the South. - IBNLive
