Just two days after the gruesome terror attack at army’s base at Uri, a shocking security lapse came to the fore at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport.
According to a Times of India report, a man trespassed the perimeter wall of the airport on Tuesday morning and roamed around the runway area with a bag in hand, unnoticed for almost half an hour.
The perimeter wall of the IGI Airport is heavily guarded by Central Industrial Security Force personnel, who are also positioned at watchtowers along the periphery.
The trespass was detected when an alarm was raised in the Perimeter Intrusion Detection System (PIDS) as the man scaled the perimeter wall again to take exit.
It was then that the CISF personnel, deployed on watchtowers 19 and 20, spotted him and rushed quick response teams. However, it took another half an hour for them to trace the trespasser.
The intruder was identified as Sangram Singh from Sagar district in Madhya Pradesh and was handed over to the Delhi Police by the airport security. However, nothing suspicious was revealed during the interrogation.
“The security operations control centre (SOCC) reported that PIDS had raised an alarm about an intrusion. Security men were divided into teams and an instant manhunt was launched. Around 9.30am, the suspect was held near gate number 10, on city side area,” Times of India quoted a senior security officer at IGI Airport as saying.
“On questioning, he revealed his name as Sangram Singh. However, he has no identity card that could establish his claims. He was then handed over to the Delhi Police for further investigations and to verify his credentials,” he further added.
Police has arrested the trespasser and booked him under section 447 (criminal trespass) of the Indian Penal Code.
A senior police officer told that Sangram revealed that he had jumped inside the airport periphery after scaling its wall.
“The man was jointly interrogated by the police and intelligence agencies. He said he remained inside the area for about half an hour before scaling the wall again to exit. It was during his escape that the alarm went off. Before handing him over to the police, the CISF had also checked CCTV footages which established his claims,” said the police officer.
While Sangram, during interrogation, told that he was going to catch a train to Madhya Pradesh, the reason why he jumped the airport’s perimeter wall remains unclear.
On the other hand, a senior CISF official has admitted that the sneak was a serious security lapse from the PIDS.
It may be worth mentioning here that the installation of PIDS has been a controversial matter ever since it was developed four years ago.
PIDS is claimed to be a multi-layer security system with around 200 CCTV cameras installed to detect even the slightest movement near the airport boundary. Moreover, the system has radars, more than 35 watchtowers and a patrolling track along the perimeter wall.
