Police post to be set up inside Srinagar airport to thwart terror threat

The security review at the Srinagar airport comes more than a week after terror attacks in Srinagar.

In view of the recent terror attack in Srinagar city, Kashmir’s inspector general of police, Vijay Kumar, visited the international airport in the city to review its security grid on Sunday and decided to establish a police post inside the premises for the convenience of passengers.

The issue of seamless coordination between security agencies to provide fool-proof security at the airport was discussed at the security review meeting. (Shutterstock Image)

Officials said Kumar was accompanied by director, airport, DIG central kashmir range, regional director, Bureau Of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS), senior superintendent of police (SSP) Budgam and commandants of central reserve police force (CRPF) and Central industrial security force (CISF).

A police spokesman said Kumar was briefed by the accompanying officers about the various security measures in place for the safety and security of the Airport.

“While interacting with the officers, IGP Kashmir discussed the initiatives taken for maintenance of security at the airport and asked the officers to ensure better synergy and coordination among different security agencies deployed so as to avoid any untoward incident,” the spokesperson said.

The official said that various strategies were also chalked out to ease out rush of passengers at the drop gate and inside the terminal and to facilitate their smooth movement.

“Moreover, it was also decided that a police post shall be established inside the airport premises soon for the convenience of passengers,” he said.

The security review at the Srinagar airport comes more than a week after terror attacks in Srinagar, following surprise cordon and searches at crowded places by the police, including the setting up of flash checkpoints to pre-empt any more attacks in the city.

Vijay Kumar chaired a security review meeting on February 20, a day after two unarmed policemen were killed by a terrorist, carrying a gun under his Pheran (loose gown) in the crowded Barzulla-Baghat area of Srinagar. On February 17, terrorists also fired on the son of a famous restaurant owner in Srinagar, injuring him seriously. He succumbed to his injuries on Sunday.

Since then, people have been witnessing multiple surprise crackdowns on roads and busy markets by the security forces with commuters queued up, rigorously frisked and even on some occasions asked to remove their outer robes like Pheran.