BCAS probing man with 2 airport passes

Acting on a complaint, the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) is investigating how an official of a ground handling company received a second airport entry pass (AEP) in the name of another ground-handling company without surrendering his first. As per rules, one can’t get a pass until they have submitted their previous one.

BCAS on September 8 received a complaint against the duty handler from a body “Cambata Aviation Private Limited Company’s Employees Union”. According to the complaint, the duty handler, whose name is being withheld due to the ongoing probe, retained the permit of Cambata Aviation Private Limited and also acquired a second permit in the name of his current employer – BWFS ground handling company.

“There are many employees recruited by BWFS from Cambata whose previous passes of Cambata have not been surrendered while they have been issued new passes of BWFS,” read the complaint. The letter claimed that many people had been recruited without verification or police no objection certificates while the same were needed as part of civil aviation security norms.

Official sources from BCAS informed The Asian Age that an inquiry in connection was underway and by the end of the week, officials were expecting to finish the inquiry. However, official sources refused to comment on how the handler got an AEP without resigning from his first company, and surrendering his AEP there. While sources said that to get a fresh AEP, one needed to declare that they had left their previous employer and then were supposed to deposit their AEP of that company after which only they could apply for a fresh AEP and obtain one.

Cambata Aviation is the oldest ground handling company of the country but lost all contacts with airlines due to an economic crisis, following which, their services at Mumbai airport were grounded.