Patna airport security chief gets transferred a week after action on supporters of Union minister

CISF commandant of Patna airport gets transferred to Amritsar, a hyper-sensitive airport, after action on supporters of Giriraj Singh, Union minister from Bihar. On September 7, the CISF had dealt firmly with the minister’s supporters who crowded the passage of the airport terminal building to welcome Singh, causing inconvenience to other passengers.

The CISF has transferred its commandant a week after mild force was used to disperse unruly supporters of a Union minister at Patna airport.

Jay Prakash Narayan International Airport in Patna. (File photo)

Dharmveer Yadav, commandant of the airport security unit at the Jay Prakash Narayan International (JPNI) Airport, Patna, exchanged positions with Vishal Dubey at Amritsar airport, a hyper-sensitive airport. The officers were asked to join their new places of posting “without availing of any joining time”, mentioned their transfer order, issued on September 16.

While Dubey took charge in Patna on Monday, Yadav left for Amritsar on Tuesday.

The CISF had dealt firmly with supporters of Union minister of state for micro, small and medium enterprises Giriraj Singh, who insisted on entering the airport terminal building without any valid identification document, after having bought entry tickets to welcome the minister on September 7. The supporters had blocked the passage, causing inconvenience to air passengers.

The supporters reportedly turned unruly despite the Airports Authority of India (AAI) issuing 22 visitor permits, which allowed them gain free access into the airport terminal building. As per Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) rules, an MP, eligible to airport entry pass, can take one companion while accessing an airport as a visitor.

Singh’s brush with officials of Patna airport over airport entry passes dates back to 2006 when he was a member of the Bihar legislative council. The then Patna airport director, Atul Diskshit, since transferred to Kolkata as airport director, had to apologise after Singh moved a privilege motion against him for alleged “misbehaviour”. Citing BCAS rules, Dikshit had refused to entertain Singh’s alleged request for an arbitrary number of visitor passes for his men to access the airport terminal building.

A BJP functionary had also squared up to officials of Patna airport over passes in 2016. The incident culminated in the AAI issuing transfer orders of an airport terminal manager to Bhubaneswar.

Efforts by the Hindustan Times to contact Singh proved futile. However, his personal staff denied that the minister or his office had any role in the transfer of the CISF commandant.

The CISF, on the other hand, claimed that Yadav’s transfer was ‘routine’.

“Three other officers, heading airport security units at Jaipur, Ahmedabad and Amritsar, have also been transferred. Besides, the officer had completed two years tenure in Patna and was due for a transfer,” said a senior CISF officer requesting anonymity.