Security breach at Mumbai airport as CISF, customs fight

In a security breach, the two gates of the Mumbai International Airport were left unattended on Wednesday for over three hours following a tussle between CISF and customs authorities.

The tussle broke out over alleged delay in frisking of a customs official by CISF and checking of entry and exit passes of CISF officials and checking of CISF vehicles by the customs, airport sources said on Wednesday night.

The gate leading to the air strip side and the cargo side were without CISF security personnel for about three hours and unarmed customs personnel authorities took over the manning the key points during that time, the sources said.

CISF personnel took a little more time during the frisking of a customs official. Agitated over this, the official ordered a thorough checking of the vehicles entering the airport, according to the sources.

The airport customs found that two CISF vans did not have the requisite pass and the CISF Assistant Commandant was without the entry and exit pass, they said. The customs then confiscated the vehicles.

CISF retaliated and took the security off from the entry and the exit gates.

For nearly three hours, the security at the airport was compromised and the Air Intelligence Unit team then decided to man the gates themselves, the sources said.

When contacted, CISF Commander in-charge of Mumbai airport was not available for comment.