CISF puts end to airport tout raj Subhro

Kolkata: Rajdeep Ghosh, a Kolkata-based executive who arrived at Kolkata airport from Delhi on Saturday evening, looked puzzled when he left the domestic terminal. He looked around carefully and seemed surprised and pleased at the same time. And so did most of the other fliers leaving the airport. The touts, who are forever ready to pounce on unsuspecting passengers, were missing.
"I bet it is a shock to find the rogues missing from the gallery outside the terminal building. If the authorities are able to keep the airport premises free of the tout menace, it is sure to have a positive rub-off on the outlook towards the city," said Ghosh.
The sight of touts, of cabbies geared to fleece, of illegal money changers itching to extort and of general traffic chaos, acts as an introductory shock therapy to Kolkata for newcomers. For frequent fliers like Ghosh, the scene arouses dismay, even revulsion. "It is no longer a shock, it is disgust," he explained.
Though there were still some cabbies lurking around to fleece passengers on Saturday, it was nothing like what had seemed like terminal illness at Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport till some days ago. The traffic movement was a lot streamlined. It was a pleasant surprise.
What had driven the murky men off the turf was a blitzkrieg by the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) that joined forces with the local police to conduct special drives and net the men who had become synonymous with harassment.
12/12/10 Subhro Niyogi/Times of India

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Categories: Airports Dec 2010