Delhi police hunt for two Mumbai touts in fake pilot case

The Delhi police team is camping in Mumbai to probe the fake pilot license scam and has questioned the directorate general of civil aviation (DGCA) officials in Mumbai. They are also looking out on two touts — Deepak and Tyagi who are known to have helped the Air India (AI) commander JK Verma to get his Airline Transport Pilot License (ATPL) with forged papers.

The fake pilot license scam that started with the arrest of pilots in Rajasthan and Delhi has now found its way to Mumbai. Since the last two days the Delhi crime branch officials are in the city to trace the touts who made this possible. “While questioning Verma he gave us names of two touts from Mumbai with whom he was regularly in touch,” says a Delhi police official on conditions of anonymity. “He told us that the touts were recommended to him by his co-pilots for smooth facilitation of his ATPL. We have also questioned DGCA officials in the exam department in the past two days,” says the official.

Verma had repeatedly failed ATPL exams since 2006 till the year 2009. In 2009 he cleared the two papers — radio aids and instruments and meteorology but failed in air navigation. So he paid Rs12 lakh to the touts to clear the exam and thus, obtained his ATPL finally. Verma is the second pilot who was arrested by the Delhi police for forging his mark sheets to obtain his ATPL that qualifies him to be a commander.