High alert at airports: Shoe checks, extra frisking likely

Security has been stepped up at all “sensitive” airports in the country ahead of Republic Day. Delhi will remain on high alert till January 26, and the Delhi police has been told to be ready to foil any attempt by terrorists to carry out strikes. Similar directives were issued in other states.

At airports, airlines and special CISF teams have been told to conduct risk-based secondary ladder-point checks, frisking passengers just before they enter the aircraft. At key airports like Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Chennai and Ahmedabad, passengers are already going through multiple layers of CISF and airport security screening, and many of them are being asked to take out shoes and open hand luggage for additional checking.

Armed Quick Reaction Teams of CISF commandos and local police have been deployed at vantage locations near airports and the leave of jawans and officers are being regulated strictly so that sufficient personnel are on the ground at least till January 26, and in some cases beyond that, sources said.

Special anti-sabotage teams and bomb detection/disposal teams and sniffer dogs have been kept in readiness too.