7 IGI loaders held in Delhi for theft of luggage

Seven loaders at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi have been arrested for stealing valuable items from passengers' luggage. The loaders were employees of service provider AISATS, a joint venture between Air India and SATS. The investigation also revealed that some officials of the airlines and the handling company were involved in the thefts. The police are now investigating the role of these officials and plan to charge them in connection with the crimes.

The Indira Gandhi International Airport unit of Delhi Police have arrested seven loaders for their alleged involvement in cases of theft, including expensive gadgets and precious jewellery, from luggage of passengers, officers said on Saturday.

Those arrested were employees of a private service provider, AISATS, which handles passengers of various airlines, the IGI Airport police said. (HT Archive)

Police have recovered gold jewellery, two expensive watches, two Apple AirPods, a pair of sunglasses and some foreign currency.

Those arrested were employees of a private service provider, AISATS, which handles passengers of various airlines, the IGI Airport police said. AISATS is joint venture between Air India Limited, a part of TATA Group, and SATS Limited.

Both Air India and SATS refused to comment on HT’s queries in the case.

Police said that investigation into the theft cases and interrogation of the arrested loaders also revealed that the airlines served by the private company were not following guidelines issued by the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security, and advisories issued by Delhi Police on matters related to searching and handling of luggage of passengers, said deputy commissioner of police (IGI Airport) Devesh Kumar Mahla.

“It has come to light that some officials of the airlines and the passenger handling company are also hand in glove with the thieves at the airport. There have been similar police actions against loaders of different airlines. The role of some officials of the airlines are being investigated. To curb thefts in the airlines, the officials responsible for the crimes are interrogated and would be charge sheeted in the cases,” said DCP Mahla.

The arrest of the seven loaders came following investigation into a theft case registered on September 29 on a complaint by Paramjeet Kaur (age not available), a resident of Punjab who had come to Delhi from Melbourne by Singapore Airlines and further flew to Amritsar from Delhi airport on September 16.

“While boarding for Amritsar, her baggage was found to be overweight for which she opened her bags and adjusted the articles. All this time, her wheelchair assistant that she had booked, was observing her. When she reached home, she found that her gold valuables were missing from her purse that she had kept in her check-in baggage. She filed a complaint and a case was registered,” said DCP Mahla.

Those arrested were identified as Manoj Kumar, Hari Darshan, Praveen Kumar, Balwinder (single name), Sanjeev Kumar, Subodh Sahni, and Satish Kumar Verma.

“These loaders used to ask the security officer of airlines to give them a wide berth while they loaded and unloaded luggage from the aircraft. They also managed to get themselves assigned with duties in the holding area only,” he added.

The IGI airport police said they were also probing the role of loaders and officials of the same handling company in another case of theft of a luxury watch worth ₹4.68 lakh belonging to a resident of Goa who travelled from Delhi to his hometown in a flight on August 16.