New airport device tells if bag had explosives in last 24hrs
New Explosive Trace Detectors at Delhi Airport can trace if any items in passengers' bags were in contact with any explosives in the past 24 hours. Shaped like card swipe machines, they are used on random passengers to increase security in the check-in area. The CISF said they can penetrate into bags, meaning they do not need to be opened.
Amid a heightened security threat, the Delhi airport security has new Explosive Trace Detectors (ETD) that can trace if any item in the bag was in contact with any explosive in the past 24 hours. Shaped like a handheld card swipe machine, the new device is used on random passengers coming to Delhi?s Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA). Since passengers spend considerable time before the security check at the airport, the CISF stops passengers on a random basis just after they enter the terminal building. Based on profiling, they were taken to a separate enclosure and ETD check was carried on. The device is passed through the baggage and hands of passengers and through colours, it can tell whether the person has packed explosive or any such item. Since passengers and their bags are not checked till they reach the security point, through ETD checks, the CISF wants to ensure better security at the check-in area.Read: Bomb alert! How Delhi airport security failed to detect ?explosives? in a bag?Now, we have an improved version of the device. It can penetrate into the bag and check if there is any trace of any explosive. We don?t need to open the bag in that case. While our staff is highly trained, through better use of technology we try to minimise terror-related incident,? said an official of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF).Officials said there will be some trace of the explosive on a person?s hand if he has touched it before coming to the airport. At Delhi airport, the CISF has separate enclosures just after the entry gate and passengers with suspicious activities are taken there. ?First their baggage is scanned, then they are frisked and then check with ETD is conducted. The handheld device is quite handy and we have about a dozen of them. They are easy to carry and success rate is also very good,? the official added.The CISF is also planning to use handheld ETD to check passengers with artificial limb so that they do not have to go through the trauma of removing it during security check. Usually ETD is used to check the prosthetic limbs but the CISF says it is meant only for detection of explosives and there is always a chance that a person may try to use prosthetic limb to hide a weapon or for smuggling. Now, the CISF has requested for an upgraded version of ETD so that passengers don?t have to go through the trauma of removing it.