The Express Tribune has learnt that the boy was caught by Pakistan International Airlines officials when he tried to board the plane, but Airport Security Force officials later claimed to have arrested the boy themselves.
The incident is reminiscent of the stowaway Qasim Siddique, who fell several thousand feet to his death after hiding next to the landing gear on a Dubai-bound flight from Lahore last month. That story raised questions about the lax security at the airport. The stowaway was last seen with a friend from school who is still missing.
A source in PIA said that fear of further bad publicity had led to the ASF claim that they made Thursday night’s arrest.
The sources said that the boy, dressed in a black cloak, breached the perimeter fence near Askari 10 and got to the runway.
He was about to climb up the stairs to a PIA plane when he was accosted by an airline official asking who he was. The boy denied being with the ASF or PIA.
The source said that ASF officials realised that the incident would be portrayed as another security failure and so they took the boy and produced him before ASF authorities claiming to have arrested him as he entered airport premises through a gate reserved for caterers.
They asked the PIA officials to keep quiet. The teen was then said to have been handed over to the agencies.
ASF officials identified the boy as Rizwan, 17, son of Ali Akbar and resident of Qila Sitar Shah. But on Thursday, ASF Inspector Mansoor Alam confirmed told The Express Tribune that the boy was Muhammad Ramzan, a resident of Warburton, Kasur.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 13th, 2011.
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