'Intruder' at UP's Trishul airbase triggers scare

Bareilly: A woman living in the staff quarters of the Trishul airbase in Bareilly who saw a man scale its 10-feet boundary wall on Thursday morning set off a huge search for the intruder who had not been found till Friday night.
With the Pathankot airbase attack fresh in mind, Air Force authorities didn't want to take any chances and with no trace of him even hours after a preliminary search, Garud commandos were soon deployed, who man the base, to look for the intruder.
For a while the Bareilly-Pilibhit highway, too, was closed and entry was banned for all in the base area.
Authorities, who cordoned off the entire area, launched a house-to-house search for the intruder even as he remained elusive. A team of security personnel fanned out to the nearby areas to look for the suspect, but nothing has come of it. All nearby buildings and shops have been inspected.
Talking to TOI, a senior official at the airbase said, "The search started from Thursday afternoon and continued till Friday evening. Commandos, along with security staff, were pressed in to service. However, there is no trace of the intruder about whom we received the input. The search operations have been called off as of now, but strict vigil is being maintained."
Talking to TOI, chief administrative officer, Trishul air base, group captain Muthi Bail had then said, "I cannot elaborate on the security mechanism put in place but can only say that it is unprecedented in the history of Indian Air Force. Crack commandos and quick reaction teams (QRT) are manning the premises and any threat will be effectively neutralised."