Pilots also fudged logbooks to inflate flying hours

The Delhi police believe that the pilots, who presented fake marksheets to obtain flying licence, also fudged their logbooks to increase the number of flying hours — to get their licences.

The Delhi police believe that the pilots, who presented fake marksheets to obtain flying licence, also fudged their logbooks to increase the number of flying hours — to get their licences.

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During their investigation into the fake pilot scam, the crime branch on March 26, arrested four more people, including an official of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).

"We have asked the DGCA to look into the fudged logbooks as we have no authority to go through them. We have arrested them for submitting forged certificates, but looking into logbooks has to be done by DGCA," said a senior police officer.

The police claimed that Pradeep Tyagi (35), a pilot who helped others procure fake marksheets also allegedly helped them to fudge their logbooks and jack up flying hours.

The crime branch, till now, has arrested six persons, including three pilots, in connection with the case.

Three pilots and a conduit of the gang are still on the run while another pilot has joined investigations.

"We have smashed this gang. We are looking for three pilots and a conduit of the racket who is a flying instructor in Mumbai who are on the run," said Ashok Chand, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime).

Pradeep Kumar (48), presently an assistant director with the airline regulator DGCA, Tyagi, and his two associates Pankaj Jain (23) and Lalit Jain (34) were arrested between Wednesday and Saturday from Delhi and Chennai.