9/11 attack: India bans airport police from smiling

Armed police at Indian airports have been told to cut down on smiling , with officials blaming the 2001 US terror attacks partly on an excessive focus on friendliness , local media reported Tuesday .
The Central Industrial Security Force , in charge of aviation safety , will move from a “ broad smile system ” to a “ sufficient smile system ”, the Indian Express said in a front -page report.

The English language newspaper said the move was aimed at making the CISF “more vigilant than friendly ”.

“ We cannot be over -friendly with the passengers because one of the reasons cited as to why 9 / 11 happened… was excessive reliance on passenger- friendly features , ” CISF director general Rajesh Ranjan was quoted as saying .

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Ranjan also said CISF personnel would be trained in behavioural analysis by international consultants .

India has witnessed a six -fold increase in passenger numbers over the past decade as citizens take advantage of better connectivity and cheaper fares in the highly competitive sector .

But airports are struggling to cope with the surge and analysts have warned that the government needs to spend billions of dollars to boost capacity and safety .

Earlier this month the government said some domestic flyers would soon be able to leave their boarding passes at home , thanks to proposed facial recognition technology at airports .

( AFP )

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