Jewellery worth lakhs go missing from check-in bag of Bengaluru-bound couple, FIR lodged

A passenger couple, who travelled from Darbhanga to Bengaluru onboard Spicejet flight no SG-494 on December 2, have alleged theft of gold jewellery worth nearly Rs 5-6 lakh from their check-in baggage. Durgesh Kumar, a software engineer, along with his wife Nikeeta and a kid, was flying to Bengaluru from Darbhanga airport on December 2 when the lock of one of his baggages was broken and jewellery was stolen from the box. The couple discovered the theft only after reaching Bengaluru.

Jaiprakash, Durgesh’s relative from Muzaffarpur, has lodged an FIR ( 545/2020) at Sadar police station in Darbhanga. When contacted, Station House Officer of Sadar Police Station, Girija Baitha said that the police were investigating the case. A case under section 379, 34 of the India Penal Code has been registered.

He, however, said that the CCTV footage at Darbhanga airport didn’t provide many clues as surveillance camera could not cover the area beyond the luggage dropping point after scanning. What happened thereafter is not clear.

Earlier, Durgesh had complained to Bengaluru airport police in this regard. However, they responded that the jewellery was not stolen from the airport after reviewing the surveillance footage at Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru.

The Bengaluru police concluded that the jewellery might have been stolen from the bag during the transit of baggage after scanning was done at Darbhanga airport.

Durgesh, a native of Motihari, meanwhile, alleged that he did not doubt that jewellery might have been stolen by unscrupulous ground staff at Darbhanga airport. The lock was broken and the luggage tag of Spicejet was pasted over it.

“During security scanning at Darbhanga Airport, the concerned staff assured me that it was quite safe to carry the jewellery in check-in baggage. He didn’t ask me to fill up any declaration form regarding the same. There were a couple of ground staff listening to our conversation,” he quipped. The FIR also mentions the name of six ground staff who were on duty.

Darbhanga airport was started in a hurry and not all the strategic points have been brought under coverage of surveillance area, the passenger alleged. According to an informed source, at smaller airports after the scanning of luggage, the responsibility to transfer the bag from terminal to cargo rests with the concerned airliner’s staff.