New Delhi, Apr 21 (PTI) The Centre has ordered deployment of an armed security contingent of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) at the Lengpui airport in Mizoram.

This will be the 69th airport under the counter-terrorist cover of the paramilitary, designated as the national civil aviation security force, and the first unit guarded by it in the north eastern state.

The lone airport of the state is located about 35 km north of capital Aizawl in Mamit district. It is the first airport in the country to be constructed by a state government, according to the Airports Authority of India (AAI).

“The force will take charge of the airport on April 24,” a senior CISF officer told PTI.

It is currently protected by a joint team of the state police and the CRPF, he said.

The CISF has a special aviation security group (ASG) under its establishment that guards civil airports across the country as part of its charter to provide counter-terrorist and anti-sabotage cover to these facilities used by lakhs of domestic and international passengers daily.

The force, like other airports, will control access and exit at the Lengpui facility, check departing passengers and their baggage and deploy vehicle-borne armed commandos as part of a quick reaction team (QRT) that responds in case of threat or attacks, the officer said.

A Myanmarese military cargo plane carrying 14 crew members had crash-landed at this airport after it overshot the table-top runway in January last year. There were no casualties.

Mizoram shares 510 km of its border with neighbouring Myanmar out of the total 1,643-km-long international front. PTI NES DV DV