Intruder Held for Sneaking Into Bhopal Airport, ‘Damaging’ Chopper

A man sneaked into a govt hanger at Bhopal airport and damaged a parked helicopter before being caught by CISF.

A 25 year-old-man sneaked into a govt hanger at Bhopal airport and damaged a parked helicopter before being caught by CISF.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

In a major security breach, a 25-year-old man on Sunday evening, 2 February, sneaked into the Madhya Pradesh government's hangar inter-connected to the Raja Bhoj airport in Bhopal and "damaged" a parked helicopter before running towards the apron area where a flight was taxiing for take-off, a senior CISF officer said.

The suspect Yogesh Tripathi allegedly wanted to play ‘commando’, reported The Times of India.

Yogesh told security personnel that he breached airport security because he “wanted to get into commando training”.

His family questioned this claim, saying he had never shown any inclination for military service.

He was overpowered at the apron area by personnel of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF).

“Due to the incident, a Udaipur-bound flight with 46 passengers on board got delayed by one hour at around 8 pm,” said Virendra Singh, CISF Deputy Commandant.

Singh said Tripathi appeared mentally unwell, as he shouted slogans like “I want to serve the nation”, “I am a commando trying my skill”.

The state hangar is guarded by the Madhya Pradesh police while the airport by the CISF.

"The intruder was overpowered by CISF personnel within seconds when he ran towards the airport's apron, before he could enter the runway," he added.

He said Tripathi "damaged the chopper with his hands".