Power banks top list of seized items at airports in India

NEW DELHI: Every day, around 25,000 prohibited items are seized by security agencies from air passengers at various airports across the country, said the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) on Monday. Zulfiquar Hasan, Director General of BCAS, inaugurated Aviation Security Culture Week-2023 at BCAS Headquarters in Delhi.

"Every day, we screen around eight lakhs handbags and five lakhs check-in baggage at all airports in the country. And while checking, we find around 25,000 prohibited items that create a diversion for security personnel and time of security personnel, and passengers gets wasted in clearance," said Hasan. BCAS said that the seized prohibited items that were often found in check-in baggage are power banks (44 per cent), lighter (19 per cent), loose batteries (18 per cent), and laptops (11 per cent). In hand-baggage, lighter (26 per cent), scissors (22 per cent), knife (16 per cent), and liquids (14 per cent) are found.

Hasan added that foolproof security is essential for the growth of the aviation sector. "We cannot afford to have a single mistake, and for this reason, we have organised a week-long program to educate people as India has the world's highest number of first-time flyers," he said.

Elaborating on emerging threats to aviation as 4.8 lakhs passengers travel every day on 3,300 flights, Hasan said that cyber threats that also include drones are new kinds of threats to the sector. "We are working on all fronts for the safety of passengers. Along with the safety of onboard passengers, we are equally taking care of the safety of people at the landside area of the airport," he added.