In what is turning out to be a common occurrence at the city airport, another passenger has registered a theft complaint with the Sardarnagar police station.
In this case, an Indigo passenger, a resident of Chennai, found Rs50,000 in cash missing from his bag. He was flying from Mumbai to Ahmedabad.
Incidentally, sources said that the loaders found the passenger's bag broken and brought it to his notice. They also asked him to check its content. Initially, the passenger, identified as Poonam Chandra Purohit, 57, told the airline authorities that the bag had Rs1,17,000 in cash which was found to be safe. Sources said he later said that there was an additional Rs50,000 which had gone missing. This is the second incident of theft reported on a flight between Mumbai and Ahmedabad.
The city police for the past few years are trying their hands at making Ahmedabad airport a theft-free zone, but in vain. The cops are yet to gain any success in thefts reported from the city airport.
The recent theft of Rs 3.10 lakh from the Ahmedabad-Mumbai bound flight has again pointed fingers at the security installed at the airport. It raises questions on what the police are doing to prevent such thefts from taking place and also what actions the cops are taking to get to the bottom of the matter.
The fact remains that in recent past, cases of thefts from the city airport continue. Most of the time, the bags are found open and valuables missing from them.
"Nearly 80% of such thefts go unreported as the passengers are either in a hurry to board a flight or they learn about the incident after they have left the city," a source familiar with security at the city airport told DNA.
"Cash and valuables like cameras and jewellery usually go missing from the baggage," the source said adding that to avoid hassles foreigners don't even bother to file a complaint about the same.
Talking to Roxy Gagdekar of DNA, VS Sarvaiyya, police inspector, Sardarnagar police station, said, "We have not ruled out the possibility of any nexus operating and are investigating every aspect of these thefts." The police however, are yet to witness any success in the matter regarding the thefts at the airport.
According to the cops, of all the routes, Ahmedabad-Mumbai is the one on which all the thefts have been reported so far. "This implies that the nexus operates either in Ahmedabad or in Mumbai," said Sarvaiyya, adding that the thefts take place after the security check, thus hinting at the possibility of loaders being involved.
It should be noted that most airlines hire loaders from private agencies on a contract basis. Hence, their antecedents are rarely checked.