Thiruvananthapuram:
A suspicious package on board a Kingfisher flight at the Thiruvananthapuram airport triggered a security alarm on Sunday morning.
The ball-shaped package was reportedly a high power hand cracker found wrapped in a newspaper in the cargo compartment of flight IT 4731 that arrived from Bangalore. All the 31 passengers on the small ATR aircraft had deplaned.
Security agencies are yet to explain just how it got there.
The object, weighing around 15 grams and carrying gunpowder, was wrapped in a newspaper and spotted by cleaners after the flight landed at 8 am. The bomb disposal squad was called in and it was promptly removed.
A statement from Kingfisher Airlines said that the unclaimed package was found during a routine security check. "The matter was immediately reported to the authorities who removed the package from the aircraft. As precautionary measure the aircraft is being checked by the security agencies," it added.
The aircraft was taken to an isolation bay and the explosive removed. The police say it could not have gone off on its own, but would have exploded only if it was set alight.
Bangalore airport authorities said that all baggage was checked and it was clear from their side anything else was airline's responsibility.
Investigators are probing all those who had access to the aircraft including baggage handlers and loaders as someone within them could well be responsible. If they are airport security at Bangalore and Thiruvananthapuram would then have to face tough questions because it would mean loaders were not properly sanitized by ground security.
M Vijaykumar, Law Minister, Kerala: "It is a serious security lapse. We have directed the security agencies to look into this."
But was it placed here during off loading at Thiruvananthapuram or was it there when the plane took off from Bangalore?
Airport authorities say it's the airline's responsibility, but Kingfisher says it might have been on the plane already.
The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) controls the first layer of security for the airports, which means the explosive could not have been brought to the plane before it breached the CISF.
And then everything from there on to the plane is the airline's responsibility, which is where the second breach would have happened.
The police have a constituted a high level committee headed by DCP Jolly Cherian to investigate the matter. The Kerala Government has ordered the investigating agencies to conduct a thorough probe to find out as to how this lapse occurred at the airport.
Security agencies are also not ruling out the possibility that some individual or a group was trying to test the chinks in the system as a dry run to something bigger.
At a time when Kerala is on alert with intelligence of Kochi being the possible target of a terror attack this incident shows how security is far from foolproof.
The ball-shaped package was reportedly a high power hand cracker found wrapped in a newspaper in the cargo compartment of flight IT 4731 that arrived from Bangalore. All the 31 passengers on the small ATR aircraft had deplaned.
Security agencies are yet to explain just how it got there.
The object, weighing around 15 grams and carrying gunpowder, was wrapped in a newspaper and spotted by cleaners after the flight landed at 8 am. The bomb disposal squad was called in and it was promptly removed.
A statement from Kingfisher Airlines said that the unclaimed package was found during a routine security check. "The matter was immediately reported to the authorities who removed the package from the aircraft. As precautionary measure the aircraft is being checked by the security agencies," it added.
The aircraft was taken to an isolation bay and the explosive removed. The police say it could not have gone off on its own, but would have exploded only if it was set alight.
Bangalore airport authorities said that all baggage was checked and it was clear from their side anything else was airline's responsibility.
Investigators are probing all those who had access to the aircraft including baggage handlers and loaders as someone within them could well be responsible. If they are airport security at Bangalore and Thiruvananthapuram would then have to face tough questions because it would mean loaders were not properly sanitized by ground security.
M Vijaykumar, Law Minister, Kerala: "It is a serious security lapse. We have directed the security agencies to look into this."
But was it placed here during off loading at Thiruvananthapuram or was it there when the plane took off from Bangalore?
Airport authorities say it's the airline's responsibility, but Kingfisher says it might have been on the plane already.
The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) controls the first layer of security for the airports, which means the explosive could not have been brought to the plane before it breached the CISF.
And then everything from there on to the plane is the airline's responsibility, which is where the second breach would have happened.
The police have a constituted a high level committee headed by DCP Jolly Cherian to investigate the matter. The Kerala Government has ordered the investigating agencies to conduct a thorough probe to find out as to how this lapse occurred at the airport.
Security agencies are also not ruling out the possibility that some individual or a group was trying to test the chinks in the system as a dry run to something bigger.
At a time when Kerala is on alert with intelligence of Kochi being the possible target of a terror attack this incident shows how security is far from foolproof.
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