The Hindu : Kerala / Thiruvananthapuram News : Pilferage at air cargo terminal

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jul 10, 2007
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Kerala

Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram

Pilferage at air cargo terminal

S. Anil Radhakrishnan

Move to hand over security to the CISF

Thiruvananthapuram: With the authorities stepping up security to check pilferage from baggage of passengers arriving at the international airport here, casual workers engaged by outsourcing agencies for Air-India and allegedly involved in pilferage have shifted their activities to the air cargo terminal.

Four casual workers employed by cargo handling agents for Air-India were caught for stealing 14 saris from an export consignment kept in the air cargo terminal manned by Kerala State Industrial Enterprises (KSIE) on July 2.

The KSIE officials swung into action and recovered the saris from the four casual workers on July 3. Airport sources said pilferage of goods from export consignments would seriously affect the export through the airport. KSIE sources said the pilferage took place when the consignment was lying along with the perishables that were cleared for exporting to Gulf countries.

As per rule, the export consignment should reach the cargo complex in a ‘ready for carriage condition’ with all supporting documents. Since the consignment that arrived from Tirupur did not have the valid documents, the security personnel engaged by the KSIE kept it outside the ‘cooling room’.

The KSIE had asked Air-India to take stern action against the casual workers caught for pilferage. KSIE sources said the outsourcing agency have promised that the four casual workers would be removed from the rolls.

The Airports Authority of India (AAI) had issued directive to all the concerned agencies following the rising incidents of theft of costly items from the cargo-hold area near the high security tarmac and airport terminal buildings.

Review this week

A top official of the AAI told The Hindu that a meeting would be convened this week to review the security arrangements. The issue had already been taken up with the concerned airlines, he said.

Airport sources said the export cargo loaded into the aircraft is not checked by security personnel. Exporters are still allowed to employ their men to load cargo violating the directive of the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) that they should not be allowed into the sterile area.

Meanwhile, the KSIE had stepped up security in the air cargo terminal in view of the pilferage.

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