While the security agencies and Delhi police are busy brainstorming ways to curtail such thefts, the offenders are getting bolder each passing day, in absence of cases registered and any punitive action taken against them. Senior airport officials say that such thefts have become a norm at the Airport with one case reported every alternate day.
These employees are hired by various airlines on contract basis and are present in thousands at a single moment at the Airport. “Being insiders, they are well acquainted with the areas under CCTV surveillance and don’t miss a chance to lay their hands on the fliers’ value items. Though they are well aware of the fact that in case they are caught, their pass will be cancelled and they will be blacklisted for work permits in the future, it is the lure of the costly items they can’t resist. Being the lowest heeled in the category of people visiting the plush Airport, they are easily carried away by the lure of expensive gadgets and other items,” a CISF official said.
Lately, differently-abled fliers are being increasingly duped by such offenders, who dupe them earning their sympathy.
“On January 11, a passenger, Kiran Krishnamurthy, who had landed in Delhi from Kolkata complained that she has been deceived by a loader who took away her brand new watches. Being restricted to a wheel chair, she had handed over her brand new watches, which she had purchased from a retail store at the Delhi Airport.
However, the culprit never came back with the packet. The offender was later identified as Neelendra and the watches were recovered. He belonged to a company called Neha Aviation, which supplies employees on contract to various Airlines. His identity card was seized and was sent for blacklisting to the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS),” the official said.
In another peculiar case, two loaders working for the Indigo Airlines were spotted exchanging foreign currency for Indian Rupees at the Centrum Forex counter on January 19. “The two had earned dollars for illegally charging passengers for pushing their luggage trolleys, a service which is non-chargeable at the Airport,” added the official.
The long and expanding list of theft of items includes cash, costly cigarettes, mobile phones and so forth, out of which mobile phones thefts are the most common. “On January 16, a person working at the port lounge at the first floor of Terminal 3 stole an expensive mobile phone.
The passenger, Yatin Shah, travelling on a connecting flight from Ahmedabad to Newark, reported the loss of his Motorola Global series phone. Tracking the CCTV footage, the offender was identified and the phone was recovered from his residence. He was later handed over to the police,” the official said.
Though the security officials allege that passengers whose items are recovered, refuse to lodge complaints, Delhi Police feels that a person who loses his/her item, always wants to register an FIR. “Thorough police verification is carried out of all the employees working at the Airport premise, at the time BCAS issues passes to them. If any such complaint is received, we take it quite seriously and probe such matters further,” said RA Sanjeev, DCP, IGI airport branch.
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