Amritsar Customs Dept seeks efficient scanning system at Attari

GS Paul

Amritsar, April 25

The Amritsar Customs Department has approached the Land Port Authority of India (LPAI) to replace the existing full-body truck scanner (FBTS) set up at Attari Integrated Check Post (ICP) with some efficient system that could be relied on.

The department had seized 102 kg of narcotics concealed in an assignment of mulethi (liquorice) imported from Afghanistan and was to be delivered to a firm in Delhi.

It was observed that had the FBTS been operational, the contraband could have been detected within a few minutes and the Afghan driver, who returned the same evening after unloading the consignment on April 22 at ICP, could have been detained for further investigation.

Rahul Nangare, Commissioner of Customs (Preventive) Commissionerate, Amritsar, said investigation was under way to nab the culprits. “We will share the information as and when we reach a conclusion,” he said. However, he agreed that the existing FBTS did not meet the prescribed standards and the Ministry of Home had scrapped it. “We have already written to the LPAI to replace the prevailing FBTS,” he said. The LPAI is the custodian of the ICP, Attari.

Installed at a cost of Rs 23 crore, the FBTS was made operational in October 2021. The equipment is supposed to detect arms, ammunition, explosives, detonators or any radioactive material, if concealed in any part of the truck.

Earlier, officials had claimed that it could detect not only narcotics, but arms and fake currency too.

It is learnt that after detecting abnormality in the consignment of ‘mulethi’ through X-ray scanning, it was segregated. After close examination, it was found that there were cavities drilled in consignment that was stashed with powdery material in plastic pouches. The detection kits showed positive results for it to be the narcotic material.