Rs1.44 crore worth gold cargo goes missing

Sanjay Babulal Jain, a South Mumbai-based agent dealing in gold, was in for the surprise of his life upon being informed by the staff at cargo section of Air India that his “high-value parcel” containing gold ornaments and bars — in all worth Rs1.44 crore — had gone missing.

It was only hours ago that one of his colleagues had booked the valuables onboard the Mumbai-bound AI 527 flight originating in Hyderabad. “It was shocking and unbelievable, said Jain, who approached the airport police with the complaint last Thursday.

Jain, an agent supplying gold to several merchants in the South Mumbai area, said the airport police filed a formal complaint only on Tuesday.

Initial probe has revealed that the parcel indeed arrived at the cargo section, with certain staff members claiming to have seen it covered in four packets. “But, these four packets went missing after their arrival at Mumbai airport. It’s a challenge for us to probe the case, as there are no closed-circuit television cameras inside the cargo section,” said assistant commissioner of police CK Chavan.

The police, while suspecting the involvement of the courier boys enjoying access to the cargo sections, said insider role could not be ruled out. Officials probing the incident said a high-value parcel should ideally be kept back in the cockpit itself, only to be later escorted to the cargo section by a guard. “However, in this case, no such procedure was followed and the said parcel landed in the normal cargo section,” sources said.