38-year-old Indian man stole bags, makeup worth ₹3.5 lakh from Singapore airport before flying out

An Indian man stole items worth ₹3.5 lakh from 14 shops at Singapore's Jewel Changi Airport before flying out. He was arrested upon return on June 1.

Updated on: Jul 24, 2025, 22:15:06 IST

By Sanya Jain

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An Indian man stole items worth approximately ₹3.5 lakh from several shops at Singapore’s Jewel Changi Airport before flying out of the country. The 38-year-old Indian national targeted 14 shops at the airport, stealing bags, cosmetics and perfumes before casually boarding his flight.

An Indian man stole items worth ₹3.5 lakh from Singapore airport, police say (Representational image)

He was arrested upon his return to Singapore on June 1, said the Singapore Police Force (SPF) in a press release on July 23.

How the theft was discovered

The man allegedly nicked the items from shops in Jewel Changi Airport and in the transit area of Changi Airport. His thefts were discovered after a retail shop discovered that a bag from the store was missing. It was the shop’s retail supervisor who discovered that the bag was missing during a stock-taking exercise.

Police say they were alerted to the theft at around 4:28pm on May 29. The complainant said that a bag had gone missing from inside the shop located at Jewel Changi Airport.

When police checked the surveillance camera footage, they saw the accused taking the bag and leaving the shop without paying.

Police were able to successfully establish his identity. However, the Indian national had already left Singapore by that time.

The arrest

He was arrested when he returned to the country on June 1. Officers from the airport police division intercepted the accused during transit and checked his bags. They found several unaccounted items in his luggage.

The man is expected to be charged on July 25 with theft and fraudulent possession of property.

Further investigation revealed that the 38-year-old Indian had stolen items from 13 other shops at the airport. The stolen items were worth an estimated S$5,136 ( ₹3.5 lakh approximately).

If found guilty, he faces seven years in jail, or a fine, or both.

(Also read: Singapore woman Jane Lee dies day after explosive posts accusing Indian worker of faking injury for money)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sanya Jain
Sanya Jain is an Assistant Editor with Hindustan Times Digital. She has nearly a decade of experience in covering offbeat stories that speak to the everyday experience - from viral videos to human interest copies that spark conversation. Her interests stretch across business, pop culture, social media trends, entertainment and global affairs. Before joining Hindustan Times, Sanya spent two years with Moneycontrol and five years with NDTV. She holds an undergraduate degree in English literature from St Stephen’s College, Delhi, and a master’s in journalism from the Xavier Institute of Communications, Mumbai. Sanya has a sharp eye for spotting emerging trends and looking for newsworthy angles to elevate viral posts into meaningful narratives. She was the first one, for example, to cover Narayana Murthy’s remark on 70-hour work weeks that sparked a national conversation. She is equally at ease writing about business leaders as about the common man, about issues of national importance and memes that amuse social media. Sanya enjoys speaking with content creators, newsmakers and entrepreneurs to transform everyday moments into engaging, slice-of-life stories that resonate with readers. When she is not working, Sanya can be found curled up with a good book. Born and raised in Lucknow, she has spent the last several years in Delhi. She is deeply interested in animal welfare and now spends a lot of her time running after her destructive orange cat.Read More

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