Patna,(BiharTimes): Repeated bid by the CISF personnel posted at the Gaya international airport to check the belongings of chief minister, Jitan Ram Manjhi, created an ugly scene with CM aides stoutly opposing the action.

The belongings included the bundle of petitions or representations received by the chief minister during his visit to the home town of Gaya.

According to reports Manjhi’s aides insisted that the protocol exempts the chief minister from security check and as such the belongings can not be subjected to security check.

Reports also said that after about 15 minutes of wrangling, the luggage was allowed to go unchecked. As senior civil and police officials intervened on the behalf of the chief minister, a CISF constable physically pushed a senior official and got nearly violent when told about the identity of the official. As against the protocol requirements, no senior airport official was present at the airport to see the chief minister off.

However, Gaya airport director Samar Kumar Vishwas was quoted in the Times of India as saying he was present during the guard of honour but not at the time of CM’s departure. He, however, defended the action of the CISF by stating that the security guidelines permitted entry of only one car with the CM as occupant. But the chief minister’s luggage was in a second vehicle and, as such, the security personnel were justified in stopping that vehicle.

He attributed the faux pas to some ‘misunderstanding’. In fact, advanced security liaisoning (ASL) between the airport officials, CISF and civil officials should have been held on Saturday itself. He was very much in the office on Saturday but local officials did not organize the ASL meet, said the director. No disrespect was either shown or meant to the CM, he added.

District officials have taken a serious note of the issue and strong protest will be lodged both with the civil aviation authorities and the Union home ministry, the controlling ministry of the CISF, reports say.