47 foreign nationals arrested for trespassing at Delhi airport in 2018

NEW DELHI: Of the 120 people arrested for trespassing on the Indira Gandhi International Airport in 2018, 47 were foreign nationals, official data with Delhi Police shows.

According to the data, 109 cases of trespass were registered against 120 men and women in 2018, nearly double the number of such incidents reported in 2017. 

Deputy Commissioner of Police Sanjay Bhatia told this newspaper that these people were either caught entering with fake tickets or were stopped and questioned while exiting the departure terminal area from the entry gates.

"People generally book tickets and cancel them immediately. They enter with the cancelled tickets to see off their friends and families and are caught while going out," he said, adding that most of the cases were reported against people who were exiting the airport from the entry gates after making an entry with cancelled tickets.

In October, an Ethiopian national was arrested by Central Industry Security Force (CISF) personnel for entering the airport with a fake ticket. He used an edited ticket for an Ethiopian Airlines flight bound for Addis Ababa to see off his mother, who was travelling by that flight.

"CISF has devised a system for passengers who have entered the airport. They will not be allowed to exit unless they are certified by the concerned airlines that they are bona fide passengers, but for some reasons they are not travelling," CISF Spokesperson Hemendra Singh told this newspaper.

He added that airline staff get to move inside by following a proper procedure.

"This problem of fake tickets is going to be sorted out when a digital barcode system starts for the staff and also for passengers," he said, adding that this system