2 CISF men suspended, but questions remain

CHENNAI/NEW DELHI: Days after a smuggling racket was busted for their bid to smuggle 6.5 kg of Ephedrine to Malaysia, two CISF persons were suspended in connection with the incident on Wednesday.The personnel were identified as sub-inspector Patnail and constable Naresh Ram.Airport sources said, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) initiated action against the CISF men for their failure to frisk Balakumar, a contract driver with Jet Airways, who smuggled the consignment to the tarmac in a company tractor. He was assigned to drive the bus that would take passengers to a Jet Airways flight scheduled to depart for Malaysia. Three drug carriers were travelling as passengers in the flight.      Additional Director General of Police, DRI, C Rajan told Express that a Jet Airways official, who was in-charge of the company’s vehicles, claimed that during inquiry, Balakumar specifically wanted to drive bus no 9 on Sunday night.  The official also claimed that his company outsourced the hiring of contract staff to J J Hospitalities and Management Service Pvt Ltd. “We will question the officials of that company to find out the mode of hiring of contract employees,” the ADGP said.Smuggling Easy?Meanwhile, the confession of Balakumar, who claimed that he has been successful in smuggling the contraband on earlier occasions, has opened a can of worms over the security lapses at the airport. Considering this revelation and the seemingly simple modus operandi of the gang, the CISF were clearly not the only ones to blame.It has been disclosed that Balakumar used his temporary pass to enter the airport premises. The only other hurdle he had to overcome in his bid to smuggle the contraband, was a casual vehicle check by the CISF at one of the other gates. The operation for the gang was hence, quite simple, as neither Balakumar nor his ‘kurivis’ had to carry the consignment on them. As a CISF official put it, “While people can be frisked, vehicles cannot be checked in such detail. Detailed manual screening is impossible. We have written to the authorities to provide necessary infrastructure to make this process faster.”A senior customs official expressed concern that the smugglers have now found ways to beat the system.