Finnairille reitti Mumbaihin (oli: Lentoyhtiöuutisia)

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Häslinkiä Mumbaissa

 

Finnair official held after row with CISF official

18 Nov 2008, 0005 hrs IST, CHINMAYI SHALYA, TNN

 

MUMBAI: A Finnair official was arrested from Mumbai airport on Sunday night for hampering security checks conducted by the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF). The official, 41-year-old Vinay Chatu, allegedly picked up a row with a CISF official on duty when the latter refused to give a clearance to a female passenger for security reasons.

 

The drama unfolded inside the international terminal when the CISF official stopped the passenger from boarding a flight and asked for a re-screening of her baggage, which did not bear a security stamp. The passenger, an Australian citizen, had arrived in Mumbai the same morning and was being deported back to Finland as she did not have some documents. However, Chatu allegedly refused to allow another screening and took the passenger ahead to board the flight, violating security requirements, officials said.

 

The scene reached its climax when the flight, all set for a take-off, was stalled and all passengers were deplaned for a thorough security check. The flight eventually took off after a delay of one-and-a-half hours.

 

"It was only a matter of getting the passenger's baggage checked again. We could not have compromised on the security,'' CISF senior commandant Sanjay Prakash said. Chatu was arrested later in the night and handed over to the Sahar police. "He was booked for obstructing a government servant from performing his duty,'' senior inspector Dilip Patil said. The manager was released on a bail of Rs 1,500 on Monday.

 

"It is a matter of co-ordinating with the various agencies working at the airport to ensure that all security requirements are met. It was the stubborn attitude of the manager which made the matters worse, compelling us to take a harsh step that caused inconvenience to other passengers,'' said a CISF official.

 

 

The Times of India