10 August,2015 01:05 PM IST | | Neha LM Tripathi
Around 11 am yesterday, an abandoned bag was spotted near a check-in counter and the bomb squad was called in; the bag was found to contain pomegranates!
Yesterday, airport security officials went into a tizzy after they spotted an abandoned bag opposite the Jet Airways check-in counter. But the âsuspicious' bag turned out to be full of pomegranates after the Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad (BDDS) opened it.
An official from the Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad (BDDS) handles the bag, which turned out to be full of pomegranates
Around 11am on Sunday, the abandoned bag was spotted by the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), which immediately alerted the BDDS. The bag was near one of the pillars close to a toy shop. According to Standard Operating Procedure, no passenger movement was allowed until the bag was declared safe.
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Two of the six BDDS personnel wore bomb suits and cordoned off the area. After taking the necessary precautions, they opened the bag, only to find pomegranates in it. An airport official present at the spot explained, "The bag had nothing more than thirty pomegranates in it, hence it was declared safe.
We are used to such calls, but we cannot rule out the possibility and take risks with even a small object lying unclaimed in the terminal premises." Another officer added, "There are more than 200 unclaimed bags (on a monthly basis) that the security officials find lying around on the the airport premises.
Bags whose contents can be made out are taken care of by the security official present at the airport, with all safety precautions, but the ones that appear to be suspicious are handed over to the BDDS."
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Rahul Kamath, a passenger who was checking in for his Bengaluru-bound flight said, "The officials at the terminal immediately restricted all of us from moving forward, hence the check-in process was halted for a while. It was, however, very awkward for both the officials and passengers that pomegranates were found in the bag, after applying restrictions on our movement."
