Security stepped up at Delhi Metro, IGI airport ahead of Republic Day

Security at major public transport hubs in the national capital like the metro stations and the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport has been stepped up with the deployment of 400 additional CISF personnel and multi-layered frisking of passengers and their luggage in view of the upcoming Republic Day celebrations, officials said on Wednesday.

They added that while a metro passenger was being scrupulously frisked by two personnel at the time of entering a station, travellers at the airport were being asked to remove shoes, heavy jackets and belts before boarding the aircraft.

"The security drills have been stepped up at the Delhi Metro stations and at the Delhi airport in view of the upcoming Republic Day celebrations in Delhi on January 26. Body frisking and checking of luggage at these two public transport facilities have been intensified and are being randomly changed on the basis of intelligence inputs," a senior Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) officer said.

He added that passengers should keep some "extra time" in hand while using these two facilities.

Additional quick reaction teams (QRTs) and counter-terror squads were deployed at those metro stations that witnessed a heavy footfall or were important from the security point of view and similarly, additional teams were deployed at the airport too, the officer said.

At a number of metro stations, passengers were being frisked twice, first manually and then with a hand-held metal detector, he said, adding that the additional manpower of security personnel was being used to conduct patrols and keep an eye on suspicious elements.

"About 400 more CISF personnel have been deployed in the Delhi Metro network as part of the stepped-up security measures," the officer said.

At the IGI airport, passengers were randomly being asked to undertake a second frisking -- the Secondary Ladder Point Check (SLPC) -- just before entering the aircraft, a security official at the airport said.

"All civilian passes issued to people for entering the terminal areas of the airport have been disallowed as a routine practice of security drills followed during the Republic Day," the official said.

In specific cases, he said, passengers were being asked take off their shoes and belts before they were frisked.

The National Security Guard (NSG), which had trained commandos, had also deployed its strategic counter-terror and counter-hijack task forces at these two facilities, apart from other strategic locations in the national capital, the official quoted first said.

Presently, about 5,000 CISF personnel each are deployed at the Delhi Metro and the IGI respectively.