Aircraft theft: Police arrest 2 AI managers

A day after HT exposed the theft of aircraft parts weighing over 3,000 kg from the godown of the Delhi airport, the police have arrested two assistant managers of Air India (AI).

A day after HT exposed the theft of aircraft parts weighing over 3,000 kg from the godown of the Delhi airport , the police have arrested two assistant managers of Air India (AI). The arrested duo, identified as Gyan Chand and Krishan Kumar, are caretakers of the godowns from where the parts were stolen.

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“It was Chand who opened the godown first on June 15 and noticed the theft. Krishan is responsible for keeping the keys of the second godown,” said a senior police officer. Both were produced before the court and were granted bail on the condition that they will join investigation on a day-to-day basis.

“They will be called for questioning every day as we need to know where the spare parts are now,” said RA Sanjeev, DCP (airport). The police have also written to AI, intimating them about the arrest, but the national carrier hasn’t taken any action against them yet.

“The most worrying point about the whole incident is that the thieves managed to transport 3,000 kg of parts out of the airport and no one noticed it,” the officer added. The police said that these items would value more than a crore.

The goods that were stolen was received by an assistant manager of AI between December 2010 and March 2011. No one checked the godown since then. The main keys of these sections are kept at the security gate.