They came unnoticed, left unhindered

Mumbai: Red alerts on terror threats, red flags about security loopholes, yet left red faced. Four men armed with a few revolvers were all it took to pull off a daring robbery in the most improbable of all places - the cargo bay of Mumbai airport. Even after the incident, no one had any clue how the white Indigo gained entry in the first place, with guards at both the Air India and Jet Airways gates passing the buck. Unnoticed on entry and with a virtually unhindered exit, it could have as easily made its way to the departure terminal not 150 metres away.
Armed robbers on Monday looted four boxes containing gold and silver coins worth Rs 35 lakh from the Air India cargo premises and escaped in an Indigo after crushing an employee. The car not only managed to enter the premises, but also escaped despite the cargo area being less than 2 minutes from the police station. Police are still clueless about the vehicle number, the gate through which they entered or how it was allowed entry into the cargo premises.
Senior police inspector Somnath Ghughe of Airport police station said, "We think they probably entered from the Jet Airways gate. But their guard is denying it.'' A Jet airways official said the road to the actual cargo premises is open to the public and no suspicious vehicle movement was reported by their security personnel on duty.
Airports are believed to be under high surveillance. But there are no thorough checks at the cargo entry point, no armed guards on duty, no CCTV cameras to monitor the area inside and outside the gates. "There are no CCTV cameras on the approach area to keep tab on the movement outside. Nor are they installed inside the terminal. Usually vigilance is also lax and vehicles drive past without a thorough check,'' said an airport source.
26/05/09 Vijay V Singh & Chinmayi Shalya/Times of India

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Categories: Airports May 2009, Cargo May 2009, Safety May 2009