Kasargod air travellers up in arms

Mangaluru: Alleging that passengers of Kasargod are being harassed and ill treated by authorities of Mangaluru International Airport, members of Kasargod district committee of Kerala State Muslim Youth League held a protest near the airport on Wednesday.

“It has become common that expatriates, particularly those hailing from Kasargod district, are often harassed  and humiliate by the authorities seemingly with a bias,” alleged committee general secretary A.K.M. Ashraf, adding “all expatriates of Kasargod bank on Mangaluru airport for their journey. But authorities here misbehave with poor air passengers and take them for a ride detaining and interrogating them for hours with an intention to harass them.”

He said: “Few months ago, Abdul Khader of Kasargod who was carrying an I-pod, was detained as the authorities of Mangaluru airport alleged  it was an explosive. After about 24 hours, he was found innocent and the officials sent him with just an apology. Similarly, Ranji cricketer Mohammed Azaruddin, who was on his way to Qatar, faced a problem when an officer said he carried a fake visa which in reality was an authorised visa.”

Manjeshwaram MLA P.B. Abdul Razak who was present,  expressed unhappiness over such incidents.  Airport Director Radhakrishna however, denied allegations and said, “Our airport stands No 1 in south India in  customer satisfaction.”