NEW DELHI, Feb 16 (Reuters) - India will not use X-ray body scanners it bought for security checks at airports due to concerns they violate passengers' privacy, a newspaper report said on Friday.

The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), which is in charge of security of India's airports, had last year decided to install state-of-the-art body scanners at 16 airports over fears a "human bomb" could attempt to hijack a plane.

These machines use advanced X-ray technology to draw a skeletal image of a human body and are considered to be a fool-proof measure as they can detect explosives or weapons even if they are hidden under the skin.

The first scanner was brought to Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport four months ago but was soon discarded, the Hindustan Times reported, quoting a senior CISF officer.

"We found the images were too revealing," the officer, who was not named, said. "Using the machine would have become very sensitive here considering the hue and cry it has raised in the UK and the U.S."

Besides, the scanners were also not as fool-proof as thought, he added, without elaborating.

The use of body scanners had come in for some criticism in the West as passengers have complained that it amounted to a strip-search and violated their privacy.

Security agencies say Indian airports and airlines are prime targets for attacks by separatist militants operating in Kashmir, hardline local Islamist groups aligned with them and rebels in the revolt-torn northeast.

AlertNet news is provided by

Delicio.us  |   Digg  |   NewsVine  |   Reddit                                                                                  Permalink