The police on Monday submitted a first information report in the Judicial First Class Magistrate court in Aluva on the incident in which a chemical carton evaded the multi-level cargo security screening at the Cochin International airport Ltd. (CIAL).
According to the police, a case has been registered against the parcel company which dispatched the consignment under sections 285 and 336 of the IPC and section 3 of the aircraft carriage of dangerous goods act for negligence in handling hazardous substances on the complaints lodged by the airport and its security wing. Forensic experts who arrived the spot in the evening collected samples of the contents inside the smoke- emitting packet and after a detailed examination in its analytical laboratory in Kakkanad, these would be produced before the court next day.
The concerned officials of the courier company and the multi national company that had sent the packet would be interrogated along with the cargo officials and a comprehensive report would be prepared later on the basis of the test results and investigation, they said. Meanwhile, the airport director A.C.K.Nair said though the internal investigation led by senior CIAL officials was still progressing, primary investigations pointed to a lapse from the courier company. “We have decided to ban their operations temporarily till a further notice and all the airlines have been asked not to accept any of their consignments,” he said.
The incident has already raised some serious questions on the efficacy of the scanning experts in CIAL which runs the ground handling business of cargo in the airport here. Certain airlines operating here have also expressed their concerns regarding the engaging of private security personnel in prime areas of the CIAL cargo complex.
