IB may keep tabs on Bangalore airport

BANGALORE: The Intelligence Bureau may soon take up surveillance of Bangalore's HAL airport. The Bangalore link to the UK terror plot and gaping loopholes in surveillance by local police have forced the IB to evince interest in immediate takeover of the immigration wing.
Though there was a serious move a few years ago to hand over this to IB, the plan was shelved because it was thought it could be done at the Devanahalli international airport.Three years ago, when a private firm donated new tables to the immigration section at HAL airport, the city police had said, "In a few more months, we won't be here."
For, the IB had decided to take over by then. However, the proposal remained in the files since then.
"The Centre and the state governments were in constant discussion about the takeover, but it was felt that the IB could wait until 2008 for the international airport at Devanahalli to come up," DGP K R Srinivasan told TOI.
With frequent terror plots and Bangalore again becoming an easy gateway to Europe and the South East, the issue has again come to the fore. With regular instances of Sri Lankans and criminals using Bangalore airport for safe passage, officials feel it's high time IB takes over the immigration.
City police at immigration handle as many as 70,000 international travellers every week. If adequate staff is provided, then it is not a tough job. But increasing terror threat has made the job tougher. B sleuths, who manage immigration at some international airports like Delhi and Mumbai, have a database of criminals and terrorists and they know the conditions better. "There's no doubt the IB should take over immigration at the earliest," another senior officer said.
Sources at immigration said more than 150 travellers were nabbed for carrying fake passports in the last two years. "On many occasions, we had experienced criminals trying to sneak through using dubious means."