A sea of BJP supporters in front of the state hangar at Patna airport on Friday. Picture by Ranjeet Kumar Dey

Acts of terror have propelled security concerns to the top of the priority list at airports across the world but definitely not in Patna.

Any big political leader lands at the city airport and hundreds of supporters breach the security protocol and reach the runway in herds, resembling sheep grazing on open grass field.

Showcasing a classic example of such nuisance, overenthusiastic BJP supporters on Friday made a serious breach of security at Jayaprakash Narayan International Airport to greet the three newly appointed Union ministers — Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Giriraj Singh and Ram Kripal Yadav on their arrival to the city for the first time after being inducted in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s cabinet.

The supporters approached the runway at the airport through the state hangar to greet the leaders even though two aircraft in transit — one of IndiGo and another of GoAir — were awaiting take off at that time. None from the huge gathering of BJP supporters was frisked for presence of arms or ammunition.

Apparently, the state-owned chartered aircraft and helicopter were also parked at the hangar, which ferry the chief minister and other dignitaries. While the state-owned aircraft was standing in the parking lot, the chopper was parked in the bay, the gates of which were open at that time.

“It was a serious security lapse, as anyone could have tampered with the machines in the state-owned aircraft, damaged or even tried to hijack the commercial aircraft waiting for take-off on the runway. I am surprised that such an incident happened to welcome Rudy, who himself is a trained commercial pilot and he must be well aware of civil aviation norms in the country,” said a city-based civil aviation expert requesting anonymity.

Anticipating a huge crowd of BJP supporters, the three ministers were asked to leave the airport from the state hangar. However, even such a last-minute change in the movement of the VIPs turned out to be futile, as the party workers thronged the hangar to show “immense support” for their favourite leaders.

When the airport passenger bus carrying the three leaders, along with some of their aides, reached the hangar, the BJP supporters broke the security cordon and reached merely a few metres from the main runway. The BJP ministers also had to face a Herculean task while alighting from the bus even as the supporters tried to garland them.

Sensing the situation, some state BJP leaders such as Lal Babu Prasad, Sanjay Mayukh, Santosh Ranjan Rai and Ashok Bhatt requested the ministers to instantly board the vehicles waiting for them.

State BJP spokesperson and party MLA from Surajgarha Prem Ranjan Patel said: “I know there were some security lapses but it was very difficult to stop the supporters who wanted to see their leaders on their first arrival to Patna after becoming ministers.”

Captain Deepak Kumar Singh, director (operations)-cum-chief pilot, state directorate of civil aviation, said the permission to exit Rudy through the state hangar was taken from the cabinet co-ordination department under which the state civil aviation directorate functions. “Neither the Patna district magistrate nor the senior superintendent of police had taken permission from me to allow the ministers to exit through the state hangar. They had directly consulted the principal secretary of the cabinet co-ordination department on the issue. However, clear instructions were issued not to allow any vehicle to enter inside the hangar premises,” said Captain Deepak.

A cop standing at the airport said: “This kind of a security breach is serious. It is the BJP members’ duty to look into the matter.”