The Delhi Police has arrested a 48-year-old man impersonating as a pilot of Germany’s Lufthansa Airlines to gain easy access during the security clearance and have preferential treatment from the security agencies and airlines while travelling.
The accused have been identified as Rajan Mahbubani, a resident of South Delhi’s Vasant Kunj area. Police said that the accused have travelled 15 times on fake identity card.
According to Sanjay Bhatia, the Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport, on November 18, Chief Security Officer (CSO) of Lufthansa Airlines reported the suspicious movement of one passenger wearing a uniform of a Pilot intended to travel Kolkata by Air Asia Flight.
“The passenger was questioned in detail by the staff of Lufthansa Airlines and they were astonished to find that the passenger personating and pretending to be a Lufthansa Pilot was not enrolled in Lufthansa Airlines. On cursory search of the passenger, one Identity Card issued from Lufthansa Airlines was also recovered from his possession which was found to be fake on verification,” said the DCP.
“On the basis of the complaint given by the CSO, Lufthansa Airlines, a criminal case was registered at IGI airport police station and investigation was set into motion. The man was handed over to police by the CSO,” said the DCP.
“During interrogation, Rajan disclosed that he is a frequent traveller and just to escape from the long queues, he used to wear uniform of a pilot so that he could get easy passage to the aircraft without going through a long process of screening. He also used to seek preferential treatment from the concerned airlines posing to be a pilot. Sometimes he managed to get his seat upgraded,” said the DCP.
“It was also revealed that the passenger was actually fond of wearing uniform of different professions and getting himself snapped in different poses and uniforms. The passenger had shot videos wearing different uniforms on his ‘tik-tok’ account,” said the DCP.
“The accused is graduated from Punjab University, Chandigarh in 1991. After graduation, he initially worked for various private companies at different levels and later floated his own training and Consultancy Company where he used to trained corporate,” the DCP added.