Brinda karat in bag swap drama

Mumbai: CPI(M) Politburo member Brinda Karat is no stranger to controversy, but a case of accidental bag swap led to her being unwittingly targeted by CISF sleuths and caused a security alert at Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Airport.
Karat was returning to Delhi via Mumbai on a Kingfisher flight when she inadvertently picked up a sleek black handbag that looked remarkably similar to her own from the CISF scanner at security check. What led to the chaos was that the unknown passenger’s bag was loaded with personal jewellery. However, within minutes the woman – who was travelling to Chennai, and who also picked up Karat’s bag by mistake – realised that the bag she was carrying was not hers and raised an alarm.
By this time, Karat, blissfully oblivious of the swap, had boarded her plane to Delhi.
After the airline failed to locate the Chennai passenger’s bag, the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), which is in charge of security at all airports, was brought into picture and an alert sounded.
CISF began the tedious task of checking the footage from all the close circuit cameras installed at the airport and found the Member of Parliament walking off with the bag. CISF authorities in Delhi were informed, and they then got in touch with Karat.
“The MP apologised personally on learning her mistake. The baggage was collected from Delhi and was immediately sent back to Mumbai by the next flight,” a spokesperson of the Mumbai airport said.
10/10/09 Samarth and Aneesh Phadnis/Ahmedabad Mirror

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Categories: Airports Oct 2009, Kingfisher Oct 2009