Mumbai, Jan 25 (Mid-Day): With US President Barack Obama’s visit to India and the recent terror alerts received by authorities of Mumbai airport, security has been beefed up at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport and the domestic airport.

Members of Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL) security, ground staff, airline staff, Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) and personnel from Intelligence Agencies are on high alert. The number of security personnel posted at Terminal 1 and 2 has been doubled. Random checks have been increased by 70 per cent and now more passengers are being frisked.

“Temporary issuance of all kinds of passes has been stopped. This service will resume only after the Republic Day. We have taken these measures as we have been constantly receiving terror alerts since New Year’s Eve,” said a senior airport official on condition of anonymity.

Airport personnel have been on high alert since the Air India Kolkata office received an anonymous threat call earlier this month, stating that a plane of the national carrier would soon be hijacked. Later, two scribbled messages alerting of an ISIS attack were found in the male washrooms of the international and domestic terminals.

The Perimeter Intrusion and Detection System (PIDS) has been recently installed at the periphery of the airport to detect intruders. Sensors are weaved into a barbed wire fence surrounding the airport.

If the fence is breached, the wires will not only deliver a mild shock to the intruder, but an alert will also flash on surveillance monitors at the joint co-ordination control room of Terminal 2, giving the location of the breach.