With the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), the very force entrusted with the task of ensuring security at major airports in the country, coming under criticism over the involvement of its own personnel in a violent clash at Kerala’s Kozhikode International Airport last week in which one Jawan died of gunshot, the Kerala Police feels that it should get an important role in the matter of the security of the three airports in the State.
The Intelligence wing of the State police feels that police personnel should be deployed at the State’s airports along with the Central force in the context of the crisis the present system of security at airports could be posing to law and order situation. The Intelligence wing has come to this conclusion after studying the security scenario at all the three airports in the State.
“The State is ready to get involved in the security of the three airports (Kozhikode, Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram). We are ready to take measures like establishing police stations in all the three airports. The State Director General of Police will be taking up this matter with the Centre,” State Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala said on Monday.
The State police had faced difficulties in controlling the situation and taking charge of the airport security when CISF personnel and the staff of the Fire and Rescue wing of the Airports Authority of India (AAI) had unleashed violence at the Kozhikode airport on the night of June 10 in which CISF head constable SS Yadav was killed in ‘accidental’ firing.
It had taken a minimum of four hours for the police to bring the situation under control. One of the reasons for this was the issue of the police’s authority for intervening in the security matters of the airport which was totally in the hands of the CISF. The Intelligence wing feels that this is not an ideal situation as far as security and law and order at vital installations are concerned.
The police feels that the CISF, entrusted with the task of providing security to airports mainly by conducting security checks, cannot deal with law and order problems and ensure crime prevention. “The clash between the CISF and AAI personnel and the death of a Jawan amidst could have been avoided if there was police presence at the airport,” said a top police official.
“It is very difficult for the State police to take urgent action in issues related to airports as per the present system. In the case of local criminals sneaking into airports, it will be difficult for the CISF or any other Central force to identify them. Also, everyone would agree that law and order is a State subject,” said the official.
Meanwhile, the police on Monday arrested Ajikumar, a supervisor of the AAI’s Fire and Rescue wing, in connection with the June 10 clash at the Kozhikode airport taking the number of persons arrested in the case up to 14.