"None of the CISF personnel spoke in Hindi": Madurai airport officials deny any harassment of actor Siddharth

Madurai, Dec 31: Days after actor Siddharth called Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) "jobless people" claiming that they harassed his family and ‘deliberately’ spoke to them in Hindi, an airport staffer has denied these allegations.

 

 

According to a local report, a senior official of Madurai airport said that the official on duty was a Tamil woman. "Siddharth arrived at Madurai Airport with his family to go to Chennai. At 4:15 PM he reached the CISF security force’s checkpoint," it was quoted as saying.

"Siddharth was asked to remove his mask and show his ID card. This is standard security practice. The belongings of Siddharth and his family were searched. A woman CISF personnel hailing from Tamil Nadu was on duty when Siddharth’s checking happened. She belongs to Thanjavur district and the woman personnel spoke only in Tamil. She didn’t speak Hindi," the official added.

 

 

The official said the Tamil actor was miffed with the "recurrent" searches. At that time, a Telugu-speaking officer intervened to pacify the situation, following which Siddharth reportedly stormed off the boarding area with his family members.

 

"None of the CISF personnel spoke in Hindi and behaved harshly towards Siddharth. Siddharth’s allegations are false. The footage from his arrival at the airport to his departure has been recorded on the CCTV camera," the official told Daily Thanthi.

 

Earlier, Siddharth on his Instagram story, said “Harassed for 20 mins @ empty Madurai airpot by CRPF. They made my senior parents remove coins from their bags! And repeatedly talked to us in Hindi after being told to speak English. Rude AF 🙁 When we protested they said in India this is how it is. Jobless people showing off power”.

 

In light of this clarification, Siddharth has put out a lengthy Instagram post in which he goes on to narrate about the alleged ‘harassment’. In the post, Siddharth laments about the CISF personnels placing his headphones in the tray. He also expressed concerns about his mother being asked to take out the coins from her purse and keep it aside in the tray.

 

It is to be noted that it is customary and mandatory for passengers to take out any electronic devices and metal objects and keep them separately in a tray for security check. In many airports, passengers are also required to remove shoes and belts