HYDERABAD: Ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, all airports across the country have been put on high alert in order to check the flow of unaccounted and illegal cash. The Bureau of Civil Aviation Security has issued the necessary instructions to airports.
The baggage of exempted-category persons will now be screened. Passengers, crew and baggage transported in aircraft owned or hired by governments and even chartered aircraft will be subjected to screening. Officials from Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), who are entrusted with the security of airports, said that they are coordinating with the Income Tax department and local police to check the cash flow through air routes.
“We are also ensuring minimum inconvenience to normal passengers during these screening procedures,” a senior official said. As per the latest instructions, all passengers of any aircraft or helicopter, including commercial, chartered flights, will have to go through the pre-embarkation security checks at the airports in States that are going for elections.