Indian Homeland Security News and Updates

Get full-body scanners for airports, warns Indian Intelligence Bureau

(Source - Times of India)

The recent near-miss in the US in which a Nigerian tried to blow up a Detroit-bound aircraft after sneaking in explosives has for the first time woken up security agencies in India on the need for full-body scanners at airports.

The Intelligence Bureau this week carried out a comprehensive airport security review, necessitated by the incident on the Amsterdam-Detroit flight. It conveyed to the home ministry the urgent need for body scanners as they were the only foolproof way to prevent such an incident.

The Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) also issued a security alert to Indian airlines and airports on Thursday night, asking them to be extra vigilant. The alert followed a recent Cabinet Committee on Security meet in which airport security was discussed in light of the Nigerian's failed bid.

A body scanner is a device which uses waves of different frequency, including millimetre wave, to create images which can display any substance or object hidden under clothing. Unlike a door-frame metal detector or similar hand-held devices, which can detect only objects made of metal, these body scanners can detect any explosive substance on a person. Sources said that the IB review had become imperative also because the US had conveyed its decision to send its officials to countries across the world to review security arrangements.

The closest India has come to acquiring a body scanner was when the Joint Parliamentary Committee on security recommended use of the equipment for Parliament security in March 2008. An inter-departmental technical committee was formed to take the proposal forward but it got stuck in the Lok Sabha Speaker's office for over a year before, as sources revealed, the file went missing because of negligence. The same proposal was again put forward after the new Speaker, Meira Kumar, took over but it is still languishing.

As of now all airports in India, as also some major airports across the world, rely on manual frisking and equipment which run the risk of failing to spot certain explosives. There's always the risk of a person managing to sneak into an aircraft with explosives hidden in his or her undergarments.

The Nigerian held in Detroit had passed through the security check in Amsterdam despite having the ``powdery substance' taped to his leg which he later ignited with a syringe which possibly contained a glycol-based liquid. Similarly, British citizen Richard Reid, who tried to blow up an American Airlines plane in 2001, had managed to hide explosive substances in his shoes, which he later tried to ignite. In fact, as attempts to kill Saudi prince Mohammed bin Nayef a few months ago showed, terrorists can even carry explosives in the rectum, making X-ray the only possible way to detect them.

Vehicle scanner, which too has never been used in the country, has also been recommended by the intelligence agency in its review. These equipment are manufactured only by a few countries like the US, UK, France and Israel and don't come cheap. A single body scanner can cost India no less than a crore.

The US Homeland Security Department had on Thursday made public its decision to scrutinize airport security in all countries from where US-bound flights originate. In fact, as international media reported on Friday, the Dutch authorities have already decided to use body scanners at the Schiphol airport in Amsterdam from where the flight to Detroit departed.