Cases of unruly behaviours, arms carrying incidents rise at IGIA
New Delhi: Arrests of 95 passengers who had managed to sneak firearms and ammunition aboard Delhi-bound flights from Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA), have set off alarm bells for security forces, who reveal the number of such incidents is rising. Meanwhile, 136 unruly passengers were detained, among them around 50 percent were inebriated, in a duration of two years in 2017 and 2018.
According to the official at Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), out of the total cases which have been reported, majority of the unruly passengers were Indians. While 57 Indian male passengers and eight female passengers were found to be misbehaving with the airline staff as well as the security personnel in 2018, 41 Indian male passengers and one female passenger lost their temper in 2017.
In comparison to Indian nationals, 17 male foreigners and one female foreigner were found to have shown unruly behaviour in 2018. In 2017, 16 male foreigners and three female foreigners misbehaved, which indicates that 78 per cent Indian men misbehaved with the airlines staff as compared to 22 per cent of their foreign counterparts. In 2018, a total of 73 cases of unruly passengers were reported while in 2017, 63 cases were reported. In case of passengers who had carried arms and ammunitions without declaring them at the airport, 55 cases were reported in 2018 while in 2017, 40 cases were reported.
Talking about Indian passengers too rank highest among the list of offenders who have been caught with arms and ammunitions, the official said that in 2018, 39 male passengers and eight female passengers were caught, while in 2017, 32 male passengers and four female passengers were caught for the same offence. Accused of carrying arms and ammunitions illegally, the officer said that seven male foreigners and one female foreign flyer were caught while in 2017, three male and one female were caught for the same offence.
Citing reasons behind the misbehaviour of flyers to intoxication, emotional issues such as personal problems, dissatisfaction with the airline staff, delay in flight, a senior Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) officer said, "Out of the total number of cases of unruly passengers, 50 per cent of these flyers tend to be inebriated."
Speaking about the kind of arms and ammunitions which flyers accidentally sneak in, the official denied that desi katta is not among the seizures. "The flyers mostly carry 9 mm pistol, .22 pistol, .32 pistol, 7.62 pistol and 5.56 pistol. Reasons why these offenders carry arms and ammunition vary from self-defense to a cartridge which gets left inside their baggage. There was this one instance where a woman flyer was booked under the Arms Act after a live cartridge was found in her hand luggage. On sustained questioning, she revealed that she was carrying her cousin's bag, who was in the armed forces," the CISF officer added.
