New Delhi: The CISF is scheduled to take over on August 4 the security of the Leh airport, the country’s highest-altitude commercial aerodrome in the newly created Union Territory of Ladakh, officials said.
A contingent of about 100 CISF personnel will provide round-the-clock, armed security at the strategically important airport, located at 3,256 metres above sea level, they said. The Kushok Bakula Rimpochee Airport, operated by the Airports Authority of India (AAI), will be the 64th civil airport to be brought under the cover of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF). It is guarded by the local police at present.
Ladakh became a UT on October 31 last year after the central government revoked the special status given to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcated it into UTs. The CISF, the 1.62 lakh personnel strong paramilitary designated as the national civil aviation security force, will take over the Leh airport security after a formal induction ceremony. (PTI)