Laptop theft? Blame co-passenger

Lost your laptop at Mumbai airport? Don’t start blaming the loaders or airline staff yet. The culprit could be the well turned-out gentleman sharing the flight with you. According to Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) records, more cellphones and laptops are flicked by fellow passengers than loaders at the airport.

For instance, on July 27, Sachin Y Shinde, a Jet Airways passenger set for a trip to Chennai from Mumbai, reported to the CISF that his Nokia E-71 mobile phone had gone missing during the X-ray screening. He had placed the phone in the tray.

“We went through the CCTV footage and found that another passenger M Ganapalam, who was seated in the security hold area and was to travel by the same flight, had picked up the phone,” said a CISF official.

“When we intercepted him, he said he had picked it up by mistake. But the phone was found in switch-off mode in his laptop bag.” A case was registered with the Santacruz airport police and Ganapalam was let out on bail.

From June till mid-August, the CISF came across 15 cases of mobile phones/laptops being flicked. “Nine out of the 15 cases involved fellow passengers. While most say they did it by mistake, CCTV recordings show that they did it intentionally,” says Jitendra Negi, senior commandant, CISF.

In another case, on July 14, three women stole a laptop of co-passenger Lavanya Reddy, who was going to Hyderabad by an Air India flight. She lodged a complaint with the CISF after she failed to find her laptop after her security screening.

“Our CCTV screenings zeroed in on three women passengers who were travelling with children on the same flight. The group was seen placing three laptops for screening, but picking up four laptops from the security outlet. They boarded the flight with the complainant,” said the CISF source.

The CISF traced the culprits on board before take-off and the women confessed to their crime.

The complainant who was happy to receive the laptop and did not lodge a police complaint.

“Many a time, passengers who come late to catch a flight often lift other people’s phones/laptops after the X-ray screening by mistake. But there has been an increase in genuine cases. And, as the aggrieved party does not want to lodge a complaint, we find it difficult to book the culprits. So we request passengers to be more careful about their belongings,” said Negi.