Amid the coronavirus outbreak, there are many who have complained of a laxity in the checking standards at various airports.
"One Japanese friend came to India 4 days ago and she had shared this self declaration form given to her at the Immigration Counter at Delhi Airport. She told me that after filing this form no test or screening was done," wrote one Twitter user on March 2.
"There is no entry screening at #Nagpur #Airport and NO WEARING A MASK," commented another user on March 16.
Many have also lamented the lack of screening options available to domestic passengers. This reporter can confirm that even less than two days ago there was no screening available for domestic passengers at Mumbai Airport.
But even as these reports come forth, a man who landed in Ahmedabad airport recently, took to Twitter to falsely accuse the airport authorities of not screening him properly. The Airport Authorities however were quick to respond, sharing CCTV footage of the man being screened. Following the reveal, he backtracked, adding that he had thought that was a "simple eye check up".
The Twitter account has now been deleted.
"Returned from Toronto to Ahmedabad today, 3 am. No thermal check, no other checks. Just filled a self declaration form, and they let me go saying i am to self isolate myself for two weeks. If this is how they do it, India is going to be in real bad trouble" the user whose account identified him as Abhimanyu wrote.
Twitter screengrab shared by Shiv Aroor |
He was soon caught in a lie as the Airport authorities took to Twitter to respond to his claims.
"Your statement is inappropriate and hurting," the Airport authorities wrote on its official Twitter handle.
"You deplaned on EY288 today at 0244 hrs & Infrared Thermal scanned at 0248 hrs. Please do not spread panic in Society and be a responsible citizen," it chided.
The officials also shared CCTV footage of Mr. Abhimanyu being screened at the airport.
Abhimanyu soon backtracked and apologised, stating that he had not realised that it was an infrared thermal scan.
"It seemed to me that it was simple eye check up. Thank you for sharing the footage and clarifying. I apologize for my earlier tweet. I will be more careful,"he wrote in response.
Twitter screengrab shared by Shiv Aroor |
At the time of publishing this article, Abhimanyu's Twitter account no longer exists.
Many on Twitter hailed the Ahmedabad Airport's prompt action. Several others also asked the police to take action.
"He should be prosecuted. Trust specimens like him to float fake news at this time & wasting the precious time of authorities. Thank you to all the officials and support staff at @AMDAirport for your service," wrote one user.
"Better to take legal action," advised another.
Take a look at some of the comments:
