Pune airport security goes for a six

Pune airport security goes for a six
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE

PUNE, JUNE 30: Laying bare the security arrangements at the Lohegaon airport, an impersonator yesterday caused a flutter all around. Only timely detection of the man, who posed as a Jet Airways pilot at the airport, prevented what could have been a serious incident.

The incident occured on Wednesday morning when a 24-year-old youth, Vivek Rajendra Shrivastava, posing as a pilot of Jet Airways, coolly managed to cross all security barriers. He had just neared the plane when the security staff sensed something amiss and blew a whistle on his game.

And how did he pose as a pilot? Very intriguingly, Shrivastava had managed to procure the pilot kit from Mumbai. The kit consisted of a complete uniform, police sources said. Clad in the uniform and with an airbag in his hand, he moved in at the airport around 11 am. But no one at the airport believed that he was an impersonator. He had also been issued boarding card, police said.

However, the security staff got suspicious of him when it was detected that his name was not in the roster. The security then interrogated Shrivastava and informed the police leading to his arrest.

The police interrogations revealed that Shrivastava was a nautical engineer and was an employee of the Great Eastern Shipping Company in Mumbai. He hails from Pohe, a small town in Bhopal district of Madhya Pradesh. Shrivastava probably had an ambition of becoming a pilot, the investigations indicated. He has been remanded to police custody for five days.

When contacted, the officials of Jet Airways at Lohegaon airport, said they could not immediately provide any information regarding the incident and that the concerned security officials would be available for comments later. The security in-charge for Jet Airways Col Gopal Chandiram Ramani has lodged a complaint with the Yerawada police. Further investigations were on.