24×7 city airport gets extra security cover

Patna: A new layer of security cover has been put in place at the Jayaprakash Narayan International airport in the wake of 24×7 operation of flights from there.

Authoritative sources said that over 110 additional police personnel have been deputed outside the airport to ensure foolproof security to fliers at night.

Personnel equipped with light machine guns (LMGs) and other sophisticated weapons can be seen patrolling the periphery of the airport both during day and night.

A deputy superintendent of police has been assigned to review security arrangements at the airport from time to time. “Patna airport is considered vulnerable from the security point of view. So security at the airport has been stepped up. The internal security of the airport is maintained by personnel of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF),” a senior police officer said.

A patrol vehicle with highly trained jawans has been provided to carry out round-the-clock patrolling.

Earlier, the Central Industrial Security Force authorities had sent a proposal to the Airport Authority of India (AAI) to enhance security cover at the airport and demanded more personnel.

At present, around 200 CISF jawans are engaged in managing security of the airport building.

“Since the number of flights has increased, there is need to enhance the security cover,” said a CISF jawan, speaking under the cover of anonymity.

He said that the proposal to deploy 75 more jawans was sent to the AAI last year. “But no action has been taken so far,” he said.

A new IndiGo flight will start operating from Patna airport for Bengaluru from the intervening night of June 3 and 4.

Recently, a new flight started operating from Patna airport for Pune.

On an average, Patna airport handles around 4,000 fliers daily.

Courtesy: The Telegraph