New Delhi: In a suspected case of hacking, Air India’s airport ticketing office (ATO), Imphal International Airport, is getting printed on e-tickets as ATO, Lamka, triggering protests from passengers belonging to the Meitei community.Local MLA R.K. Imo Singh, who is also the son-in-law of chief minister N. Biren Singh, has written a letter to Union civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, urging him to rectify the mistake immediately and also initiate an investigation into the matter.Lamka is the Kuki name for Churachandpur, the Kuki stronghold in Manipur.As per local news reports, a passenger bought a ticket on July 3 for an Air India flight from Imphal to Guwahati for July 12 from the ticketing counter of the government-owned airliner at the Imphal International Airport. “However, the issuing office gave his flight itinerary with the address of Imphal International Airport as Lamka,” reported E-Pao. Quoting officials, E-Pao said since then the address of ATO Imphal has been printed as Imphal Airport, Lamka.Stating that it is yet to be established whether this is a glitch or an act of hacking, the news report added, “They (the officials) have also raised the issue with the higher authorities but there is no response till date.”Responding to it, legislator Imo Singh who represents the Sagolband constituency in Imphal city, has written to Scindia, stating it as “totally unacceptable on the part of Air India to have made this gross error and act of negligence/conspiracy to have altered the name from Imphal to Lamka in the official ticket.”“As you are aware of the fact that there is only one airport in the whole state of Manipur, in the capital city of Imphal. Thus, there can be no error of judgement that an adjoining airport name has been tagged,” Imo Singh wrote.An Imphal Free Press report further quoted from the letter, “I also request you to investigate and take appropriate action against the officials of Air India and any other officials involved from any organisation/government, in making such alterations by initiating a time-bound enquiry.”The E-Pao report underlined, “mention may be made that an ITLF (Indigenous Tribal Leaders Forum) leader, during a protest meet held in New Delhi afew days back, made (gave) a clarion call (apparently to the Kuki community) to take control of the airport and all the administrative institutions. The video went viral on social media.”ITLF has not responded to the issue yet.
