CISF, customs in frisking spat at T2 Customs officers say they face excessive checks, which hamper anti-smuggling ops; CISF says its following procedure. Two key airport agencies, with overlapping operation areas, are locked in a spat over protocol at Mumbais brand new T2 terminal. The Customs Department has accused the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) of subjecting customs officers and their equipment to unnecessary checks at the terminal. The frequent checks, especially frisking, are hampering the officers efforts to prevent smuggling and duty evasion, claim sources in the Customs Department. CISF officials, however, say that that their force has a bigger task at hand — securing the new terminal — and cannot make exceptions. Customs officers disagree. The customs area in any airport is notified by the commissioner of customs. CISF personnel are frisking us in our own zone of operation, a source said. They frisk us even if we are only returning from the bathroom. They dont even spare female staff members. Another source claimed that even the customs commissioner and chief commissioner were being subjected to such checks. CISF personnel are reportedly not allowing customs officers to carry screwdrivers, scissors and flashlights —tools officers say are crucial for conducting anti-smuggling checks on aircraft. Even pieces of chalk which we use to mark suspect bags on the carousel are not allowed, the source said. The dispute began on January 12 itself, the day T2 began flight operations. It took us two weeks to shift our operations to T2 from the old terminal because of the excessive checking, the source said. The excessive scrutiny by the CISF, customs officers say, had begun to affect their operations. While we are following a passenger suspected of carrying contraband inside the terminal, we are suddenly stopped and asked to stand in a line for frisking. By the time we clear security, the passenger is gone, an officer, who didnt want to be named, said. CISF personnel, the officer added, are not even allowing interrogation of a passenger in the customs notified zone. An immigration official said that they were also facing similar problems with the security. When Mirror contacted Additional Commissioner (customs) Milind Lanjewar, he confirmed that there were some issues with the security. Since it is a new terminal, some issues have cropped up. But we have a good relation with CISF and are looking to sort out the problem, he said. A CISF spokesperson said that its staff was only following procedure. Frisking of all people in an airport is mandatory, and as per our knowledge, the operation at the new terminal is very smooth. If there are some issues, we will resolve them. This is not the first time the two agencies have stepped on each others toes. On October 3, 2012, customs officers carrying out a surprise anti-smuggling check had seized two CISF vans stationed near the airports gate number 1 over an entry pass row. The CISF retaliated by withdrawing guards from two gates, forcing customs officers to take charge of security there. The row ended after top officials from the two agencies intervened.
Posted on: Wed, 05 Mar 2014 10:09:10 +0000
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