Airport staffers held for cell phone theft

Two employees of a ground handling agency have been held for stealing cell phones from sealed cartons at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport.

Two employees of a ground handling agency have been held for stealing cell phones from sealed cartons at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport.

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The intelligence wing of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) recovered three Samsung phones worth over Rs 1 lakh from them.

Two staffers of Bird Worldwide Flight Services (BWFS), the ground handling agency, were stopped for checking when they were leaving from gate No. 15 of the airport after a tip-off.

“Malkhan Sharma and Anil Kumar were leaving the airport. After a search, three Samsung cell phones (still in sealed packs) were found on them. On questioning, they could not reply satisfactorily,” Hemendra Singh, a CISF spokesperson, said.

Further investigations revealed that eight cartons containing cell phones had been brought to the airport by Thai Airways flight No. T9-323 on Sunday morning. While on their way to the cargo terminal, the duo stopped the trolley and removed three phones from one of the cartons.

The two employees were handed over to the airport police and a case was registered against them. A Bird group official said their intelligence staff first saw them and informed the CISF.

“We keep on checking our staff and these two were first intercepted by us. We immediately informed the CISF and the services of the two were terminated. We have a zero-tolerance policy and this is only the second instance in six months,” the official said.