AURANGABAD: Frequent fliers from Aurangabad on Sunday raised objections to self-proclaimed godwoman Radhe Maa being allowed to carry a foot-long metal trishul, a traditional trident, on board a Jet Airways flight to Mumbai.

However, the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) officials at the Aurangabad airport said none of the security rules were violated and that Radhe Maa was allowed to carry the trishul because it was “blunt.” A Jet Airways spokesperson would only say that the CISF was responsible for security and that the airline should not be blamed.

Passengers and their relatives were shocked to see Radhe Maa, who was in Aurangabad last week, carry the trishul after clearing security check at the airport. A flier, requesting anonymity, said, “Jet Airways claims to have the best security standards and apparatus in the country and I blindly believed it till Sunday morning. I was shocked to see Radhe Maa get security clearance in spite of carrying a foot-long trishul. The possibility of someone else on the flight snatching the trishul and posing a serious security threat could not be ruled out.”

Passengers argued that security officials often tell them to discard objects even as trivial as a nailcutter before boarding the flight. “My wife was not allowed to carry a nailcutter after it was spotted in her bag during the screening at Aurangabad airport. I want to know why the lives of other fliers were put to risk with a trishul on the flight?” a businessman asked.

On its website, the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security has issued a list of objects that cannot be carried on one’s person or in the hand baggage on board flights operating from civil airports in India and Indian registered aircrafts from foreign airports. The list includes realistic replicas of toy weapons, sharp objects like knives, sabres, scissors, metal with pointed tips, bows, arrows and maces.

In-charge of the Aurangabad airport’s security, CISF assistant commandant B L Jatt, told TOI, “Yes, it is true that during a security check Radhe Maa was allowed to carry the trishul. It was a blunt one. Had it been a sharp object, we would have stopped her from carrying it. I don’t think there was any violation.”

Radhe Maa’s spokesperson Sujit Gupta said, “The CISF men had cleared her at the security check but the same men later asked her to put the trishul in a bag.” He denied that the trishul was with her during the flight.

