Delhi Police busted a suspected theft racket operating at the international airport here and arrested eight loaders working with ground handling agencies, officials said on Saturday. The accused have been identified as Deepak Pal (25), Gautam Kumar (34), Mohin Khan (23), Rahul Yadav (24), Yashwinder (28), Pappi Kumar (26), Neeraj Kumar (26) and Kamal Kumar (26). happened in the form 27).
Gold and silver ornaments worth Rs 10 lakh, six branded watches, an Apple iPhone and Rs 1,15,000 in cash, among other things, were recovered from the accused, police said. Pal was arrested by a joint team of police and vigilance department on Wednesday when he was allegedly trying to steal a registered check-in baggage, a senior police officer said.
“Salary not enough”
Pal revealed that he worked as a loader for a ground-handling assistance company since 2018. Since his salary of Rs 18,000 was not enough, he started committing petty thefts from passengers’ belongings whenever he got a chance.
Later, he came in contact with seven other loaders and ground handling staff from other airlines and agencies. They soon formed a gang and started stealing goods on a large scale, said Deputy Commissioner of Police (Airport) Ravi Kumar Singh. He said that during investigation the police traced other loaders and arrested them.
Police said they allegedly stole valuables from passengers’ luggage and hid the stolen items in lockers and other places at the airport. Police said the accused acted in a professional manner and used to collect the stolen goods at one place before disposing of them. He said that four cases of theft have been solved.
(with inputs from agencies)
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