Delhi Police have taken seven baggage handlers into custody in relation to a string of thefts at the Indira Gandhi International Airport, according to officials’ reports on Saturday. Substantial amounts of stolen goods, including gold ornaments, luxury watches, AirPods, and foreign currency, were also seized from the suspects.
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To address the issue of baggage thefts, the airlines’ personnel involved are also being subjected to questioning. “There has been ongoing attention on cases of baggage theft throughout the year, and to curb these thefts, a dedicated team was deployed to investigate this matter,” stated Devesh Mahla, Deputy Commissioner of Police.
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Authorities established a specialized task force with the explicit objective of tracking down the thieves. Officials closely analyzed CCTV footage and interviewed the entire group of loaders working during the implicated shift. Eventually, one of the loaders confessed to stealing the aforementioned gold jewelry and selling it to a jeweler, leading to his arrest.
Further interrogation revealed that the accused had stolen numerous items from passengers’ luggage in the past, with assistance from various staff members of different airlines.
During the investigation, it came to light that the airlines were not adhering to the periodic guidelines established by the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security and letters issued by the Delhi Police. They were allegedly complicit in aiding these thieves, according to officials.
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The recovered items encompassed various valuables, such as golden earrings, a gold chain, luxury watches, AirPods, sunglasses, and currency from multiple countries.
One of the incidents involved a passenger arriving from Melbourne via Singapore Airlines on September 16. The complainant reported discovering that her gold valuables had gone missing from her purse within her checked baggage.
In another occurrence on August 16, Rajesh Sen traveled from Delhi to Goa via Air Vistara and had his luggage checked in at the Air Vistara counter at IGI Airport T3. His baggage contained a high-end watch valued at Rs468,000. Unfortunately, the watch was stolen from his luggage. Notably, the same ground handling company, Air India SATS, managed the baggage handling for both incidents, with Air Vistara and Air India SATS officials expected to face charges as the investigation proceeds.
