Sikh man denied entry for carrying kirpan at Delhi airport

A Sikh passenger was prevented from taking the sabre at Indira Gandhi International Airport. Later senior officials told the passengers all the rules, after which they were allowed to fly without the sabre.

New Delhi: A Sikh man was denied entry into the Indira Gandhi International Airport by the CISF personnel on Friday for carrying a sabre (kirpan), the ceremonial knife. The person has been identified as, Harpreet, was travelling to Mumbai.

According to CISF sources, the incident occurred at terminal 3 when Harpreet arrived for checking. He was found with a sabre longer than 6 inches during checking. In terms of security, he was stopped from entering into the flight (AI-349).

Reportedly, the Sikh passenger had an 11-inch long sabre.

Following this, an argument was triggered between him and the security staff and he was detained for misbehaving with the officials.

Despite the CISF personnel clearly telling them kripan was not permitted on flights coming from international destinations, Harpreet insisted on taking the ceremonial knife onboard.

Seeing the matter hotly, senior officials reached the spot, explained the rules to the Sikh person and after which he was allowed to fly without the sabre.