The State police are likely to initiate disciplinary action against at least four airport Emigration Check Post (ECP) officials suspected to be responsible for the oversight which allowed an airline pilot of Pakistani origin to enter the country through the international airport here in May.
Khan Khalid Rasheed, 56, a resident of Karachi, had piloted the Etihad airliner which landed here from Abu Dhabi at around 3.50 a.m. on May 6. Mr. Rasheed is holder of Pakistani passport number BF 4109113 issued from Karachi on April 7, 2010 and valid till April 6, 2015.
Investigators said usually an airline informed the ECP if they had any foreign national (particularly Pakistanis, Bangladeshis or Afghans) among its crew members or on board. The law allowed Pakistani air travellers to enter the country only through New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai airports.
Sanction
The Union Home Ministry often gave sanction to Pakistani nationals seeking specialised medical care or visiting relatives to disembark at other airports.
Investigators said that on May 5, the ECP received no information from the airline's office that a Pakistan national was piloting the flight. They said an officer on duty “robotically” entered the passport details of Mr. Rasheed and “erroneously” issued him a temporary landing permit (TLP) enabling him to enter the State along with the rest of the air crew. The TLP has a validity of 72 hours.
Mr. Rasheed checked into room number 103 of Taj Residency Hotel, Vazhuthacaud. He went online and filed the mandatory C-Form, informing the police about his stay and passport details. He also made a telephone call to his home in Karachi. Mr. Rasheed did not venture out of the hotel.
He checked out of the hotel at 2.50 a.m. on May 7, arrived at the airport, took emigration clearance and boarded the Etihad flight that landed at 4 a.m. and piloted it back to Abu Dhabi.
The airline staff immediately informed their headquarters about the incident. Investigators said the airline had mistakenly assigned Mr. Rasheed to pilot the flight to India.
The Emigration officials who issued Mr. Rasheed a TLP and the others who gave him emigration clearance to board the flight back to Abu Dhabi acted unthinkingly and apparently without any national security concern in mind, the officials said.
They attempted to cover up the incident by keeping their supervisors in the dark.
Investigators suspect that a recently suspended airline official leaked the incident to the media along with a copy of the passenger and crew list.
