BCAS Begins Probe into Mallya’s Alleged Breach of Security Checks
The Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) has initiated an investigation on whether liquor magnate and Kingfisher Airline chief Vijay Mallya infringed security rules when he transferred from a helicopter to his private jet skipping mandatory security checks at the IGI airport New Delhi, said media reports.
However, the airline said that Mallya didn’t violate security procedure, for he had gone through the required screening process at the Hindon Air Force Base, point of origin of his flight, and transferred to another aircraft at the IGI airport which was permissible under the current guidelines, said reports.
Mallya had arrived on his corporate jet, a 22-seater Airbus-319, to attend function in Ghaziabad, reports said.
According to reports, he flew down to the airbase, located near Ghaziabad, on a helicopter and returned on the same chopper that landed on the tarmac. He is reported to have boarded his private jet directly skipping the checks.
Reports said that Mallya was in a hurry to return to Mumbai to watch a match of his IPL team Royal Challengers.
However, a Kingfisher spokesman asserted that there was ‘absolutely no violation of any security guideline/norm’ by Mallya as he had boarded the helicopter at the Hindon Air Force Base near Ghaziabad after ‘undergoing the prescribed security screening process’, reports said.
He maintained that the Hindon base was ‘a secure and sterile area’ and that Mallya ‘did not leave the sterile portion’ of the IGI Airport at any point and during his transfer from one aircraft to another, said reports.
“There is no question of violation of security norms,” the spokesman was quoted as saying.
(Based on internet reports)
