Soon, frisking may not be the norm at airports and may be reserved only for fliers who don’t clear suspicion after passing through metal detectors and body scanners, top sources in the Civil Aviation Ministry told News18.
A senior ministry official told News18 that two to four full-body scanners shall be deployed in airports across the country in a phased manner, following which physical frisking of passengers, airport staff and airline crew will be reserved in rare cases.
“Once you are through full body scanners and metal detectors, only some people will be frisked. Right now everyone is frisked. Once these machines are up, we’ll follow the science,” the official said.
“If the person seems suspicious even after going through full body scanners, then they’ll be frisked. And then the frisking will be on the spot and intensive. It won’t be light frisking in that case,” he added.
Asked about complaints of “invasive and hostile” frisking by officials from the Central Industrial Security Force, which secures airports and other sensitive installations across India, the official said: “Frisking shouldn’t be the norm. But if it’s being done, it should be thorough.”
The Centre had earlier directed 84 airports across India to install body scanners to detect non-metallic objects as well. A circular sent by Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) to all airports in 2019 had stated that walk-through metal detectors and hand-held metal detectors cannot detect non-metallic weapons and explosives, while body scanners detect both metallic and non-metallic items concealed on the body.
In a recent case, a Kenyan woman was apprehended at the international airport in Delhi for smuggling liquid cocaine, which was dissolved in two whiskey bottles she was carrying.
Of around 105 operational airports in the country at present, 28 are classified as hypersensitive, including those in big cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai and in conflict areas like Jammu and Kashmir and the Northeast while 56 airports are categorized as sensitive.
Full-body scanners provide image-free solution using a generic mannequin. “Threats shall be graphically presented,” the BCAS circular had stated, addressing privacy concerns that these machines may generate images with full body contours.
On the mannequin-like image generated by the machine, a yellow spot will highlight the area on the body that may need further screening. Passengers usually have to remove their jackets, thick clothing, shoes, belts as well as all metallic items before entering into the body scanner of an airport.
The scanners are based on millimeter wave technology comprising non-ionising electromagnetic radiation, which means it is safe for all passengers, including pregnant women, the circular had said.
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