CISF tweaks security drill; fliers to be profiled

The CISF has rejiged security of all airports across the country as it has replaced the ritual drill of frisking of passengers with "tactical checking" in order to reduce hassles and ensure a heightened level of protection to civil air operations.
The central paramilitary which secures 59 civil airport terminals and is in the process of taking over more in the future has issued directions to all its Airport Security Group (ASG) units and the personnel therein to increasingly start an intelligent profiling of air fliers rather than deploying the existing time-taking procedure of checking their ticket details.
A high-level decision in this regard was taken by the force in the aftermath of the Karachi airport attacks in Pakistan.

"We have decided to substitute the ritual checking of passengers with a new protocol of tactical profiling.After months of training we have prepared our personnel who are adept in profiling of suspicious or fraudulent passengers thereby taking less time in screening of fliers," Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) chief Arvind Ranjan told PTI.
The Director General said the force personnel have now been trained in an enhanced skill of "unobtrusive" security mechanism grid in which the securitymen keep an eye on every movement at airport terminals and other area aided by snoop gadgets like CCTV cameras and sleuths cherry-dropped in civil dress and mingled in the airport crowd.

"The new drills have been planned in such a manner that nothing goes unnoticed.However, in case of trouble the CISF personnel on ground will either make a silent intervention or if the situation demands a quick armed reflex reaction that too is available," the DG said.
Officials in the airport security grid said in order to implement these new measures at these sensitive locations, which see lakhs of footfalls everyday, the force has also increased the number of its officers in crucial ranks.
"The top ten hypersensitive airports and the second rung of sensitive airports have recently inducted more officers in the cutting-edge ranks.Operations and intelligence departments are fully manned and have two to three officers each," they said.