Australian minister says "good thing" he was frisked
Instead of feeling offended after he was frisked by securitymen at the Commonwealth Games Village in New Delhi on Friday, Australian Sports Minister Mark Arbib said it was "good thing" that Indian authorities are taking the issue of security seriously.
Instead of feeling offended after he was frisked by securitymen at the Commonwealth Games Village in New Delhi on Friday, Australian Sports Minister Mark Arbib said it was "good thing" that Indian authorities are taking the issue of security seriously.
Arbib got a taste of the tight security when his car was refused entry inside the Village as it did not have the necessary accreditation and was allowed entry only after being thoroughly frisked by security guards at the gate.
Later, addressing a press conference at the Village, Arbib, who is Australian Government's representative at the Games, said it was "good thing" that he was frisked.
"Security is very tight and even I had trouble getting in. That's probably a good thing. I got frisked, which is good," he said.
"It means the Indian authorities are taking things very, very seriously," he added.
Delhi Lt Governor Tejinder Khanna said no security concessions would be made for anyone.
"Sorry there is no concession for anybody. If anybody does not have proper accreditation, he will have to go through the process," he said when asked about Arbib being stopped outside the Games Village gate.
Arbib also said that from the feedbacks he got from the athletes, Australians are satisfied with the facilities at the Games Village.
"The feedback I got was overwhelmingly positive. The athletes are very positive about the arrangements and about the training facilities. There are some issues about finishes in terms of venues and particularly in some of sleeping quarters. But overall the athletes were happy," he said.