New full body scanner installed at Peshawar airport

CAA says new machine is expensive but totally harmless

KARACHI: The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has installed a state-of-the-art full body scanner at the Baacha Khan International Airport in Peshawar to check smuggling and money laundering.

A CAA statement said on Thursday that the scanner had started functioning. The objective of the machine is to scan passenger for any contraband item or currency hidden beneath the clothes, the statement added. “It will help curb any attempt for money laundering through the airport.”

A spokesperson for the CAA told The Express Tribune that the new machine was costly but totally harmless. “It is not harmful and is quite different from body X-ray machine. The machine is certainly costly but harmless,” the spokesperson said.

The CAA installed this costly body scanner after health expert objected to the previous X-ray scanners, saying that those were hazardous to human health. The new scanner would be operated by the Airport Security Force and only suspected passengers would be checked through it, the statement said.



“Not everybody will have to go through the scanner, if security officials suspect somebody they will put that person in front of the scanner,” said the spokesperson. “And not every suspect is criminal so this scanner is quick and nobody will go through a cumbersome process of checking.”

Even though the system is installed at Karachi and other airports, the Peshawar airport authorities had complained about smuggling and raised culturally-sensitive issues. According to a source familiar with the matter it was not easy for the authorities to search people, especially women. The criminally-minded people used to take advantage of these sensitivities, the source added.

This new scanner uses the mirror technique which is being used at many international airports. The machine would scan for the contrabands, hidden beneath the clothes that are attached to the body of any suspected passenger.