Istanbul attacks put city airport on toes

Mumbai airport was put on high alert on Wednesday after the attack at international airport in Istanbul late on Tuesday.

According to sources from Mumbai airport, number of patrolling security personnel was increased. In addition, security officials from central industrial security force (CISF), the agency that takes care of Mumbai airport’s security, deployed armed officials in plain clothes at the city side area of airport.

An official from Mumbai airport told The Asian Age, “Passengers are advised to come a little prior at the airport because of the high alert,” He further added that the security agencies are thoroughly checking the passenger baggage.”

A source from Mumbai airport informed this newspaper that on Wednesday some passengers were asked to remove their footwear and later it was passed through the scanner to check it. Explaining this the sources commented, “Some randomly selected passengers were asked to run their shoes under the X-ray scanners.”

The high alert was initiated within a few hours after the bomb blast that killed 41 and injured more than 230 at the Istanbul airport.

The Airport Police, CISF and the Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad (BDDS) were alerted immediately after the incident.

A senior CISF official said that such incidents were common these days and they are on high alert almost throughout the year, but when such an incident occurs, they automatically increase their security deployment to avoid any such incidents here.

Meanwhile, private security agencies of Mumbai airport conducted vehicle checks in the multi-level parking with metal detectors on Wednesday. Two teams from anti terror squad visited the city airport to check the security preparedness, confirmed the sources.