Security breach at Patna airport

PATNA: In a major breach of security at the Jayapraksh Narayan Interna-tional Airport here on Wednesday, one Kishor Paswan (40) came on to the runway when a plane was about to take off. The incident occurred at around 6:45 pm. There were over 150 passengers on board the G8-344 Go Air Patna-Delhi flight.

Passengers virtually screamed when Paswan reportedly waved at them from outside and tried to touch the plane, sources said.

The pilot immediately pressed the panic button as he informed air safety officials about the incident. Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) per-sonnel then rushed in and took the trespasser into custody.

No illegal object was recovered from him so far. Paswan had his voter ID card with him and a towel, sources said.

Paswan's connection with any militant or terrorist organization has not been established so far. Investigation is on to find out why he ventured inside the airport. The trespasser was reportedly a lunatic.

The man reportedly hails from Begusarai and had boarded a train for Patna on Tuesday. He is said to be a labourer and reportedly alighted at Phulwari Sharif railway station last night. He had sneaked into the airport from Phulwari Sharif railway station at around 5 pm on Wednesday.

An airport official, who dis not want to be quoted, said: Prima facie the incident seems to have occurred due to the negligence of CISF personnel. The incident occurred even as the lighting around the airport perimeter boundary wall has been improved recently.

Paswan was loitering on the turmac for about an hour before running to-wards the plane as soon as it started preparing for take off, a source said.

Go Air s G8-344 flight was a little late to arrive at JPNI Airport on Wednesday. It was scheduled to arrive at 4.25 pm but landed at around 5.45 pm. The incident caused further delay and the flight finally took off at around 7 pm.

Air India s Delhi-Patna (IC 415) and Kingfisher s Kolkata-Patna (IT 4579) had to remain airbourne for over 15 minutes because of the inci-dent.

Paswan was later handed over to airport police station. We have taken the man into custody. He is being interrogated for further information, a senior police official said.

Alok K N Mishra is a Times of India journalist. He can be contacted at 9234629956.