Special Correspondent :
Security lapses at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA) in Dhaka have come to fore again following the hijack attempt of a Dubai bound flight of Biman Bangladesh Airlines.
The suspected hijacker was shot and later died after elite commandos stormed the passenger jet at Chattogram Airport on late Sunday.
Airport Manager Wing Commander Sarwar-e-Jaman said the hijacker was “psychologically imbalanced” and had wanted to talk to the Prime Minister.
Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) has identified the hijacker as Mohammad Palash Ahmed. “A passenger managed to board plane with a gun is a security breakdown. It is a big question how he got past the airport screeners carrying a firearm,” Aviation expert Kazi Wahidul Alam told The New Nation yesterday.
He said, a four-tier security arrangement put in place at the HSIA in line with International Aviation Rules. But when a passenger past through standard procedures and screening carrying a firearm highlighted security lapses of the airport.
Kazi Wahidul Alam, a former director of Biman Bangladesh Airlines, pointed out that the loopholes in security arrangement in the country’s prime airport is nothing new. But it is the first attempt to hijack an international flight of Biman. “We are surprised by the incident because it took place when the authorities have undergone several security upgrades at the HSIA.”
He thinks this incident will have a negative impact on local aviation sector and give a wrong message to the world. But the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism denied the security breach at the Airport saying that it was set up in line with best global practices.
“It is virtually impossible to breach the airport security as the system is designed by the International Civil Aviation Organisation,” said Civil Aviation Authority, Bangladesh’s (CAAB) Chairman Air Vice Marshall Nayeem Hasan.
He said the security was in line with global standards and top international firms regularly checked the country’s airports. The CAAB chief said the gun, which the hijacker was carrying, was not real.
“An inquiry is underway on how he managed to smuggle even a fake gun past security at HSIA,” he added.
Additional Police Commissioner of Chattogram Kusum Dewan said in a statement on Monday that the suspect was carrying a toy pistol and had no explosives on him.
But the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism is yet to ascertain whether the pistol used by the suspected hijacker was a toy gun or real.
“We have still not been able to confirm whether the hijacker was carrying a real pistol or toy,” said Civil Aviation Secretary Mohibul Haque at a media briefing on Monday.
The Ministry has formed multiple an inquiry committee to investigate into the incident.
