U.S. airline probed after ex-Indian president frisked
Published 11:47 pm Tuesday, July 20, 2010
NEW DELHI — An Indian police investigation was launched today into employees from Continental Airlines after India’s former president was frisked before boarding a flight to the United States.
The staff of U.S.-based Continental Airlines Inc. violated a government order on protocol for dignitaries after former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam was told to remove his shoes and was scanned by a metal detector, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel told Parliament.
Patel said airlines are given a list of Indian VIPs who should be exempt from searches.
“This act of frisking the former president … is absolutely unpardonable and beyond the scope of the laws of our country,” Patel told Parliament.
The incident caused an uproar in the legislature with lawmakers condemning the search as “outrageous.”
The ministry in a police complaint accused Continental’s staff of violating government directions, a statement said.
“If convicted, the staff members can be jailed for two years or fined 1 million rupees (US$20,830), or both,” said Moushmi Chakravarty, the ministry spokeswoman.
Kalam, who was in office from 2002 to 2007, subjected himself to the search at New Delhi’s international airport without complaint, said an official who works in his office, who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
The former president was made to remove his shoes and the contents of his pockets, and a hand-held metal detector was run over his body.
A spokeswoman for Continental Airlines defended the search as a “normal security procedure,” according to the Press Trust of India news agency.
“There is no special rule for VIPs. … This is the process the airline adheres to,” the spokeswoman identified only as Aparna was quoted as saying.
The Houston-based airline did not immediately respond to a request from The Associated Press for comment.
The incident happened in April but was reported by local television networks for the first time today.
