Airport heist: Valuables yet to be traced

Even though the Sahar police arrested three Air India staff suspecting their involvement in the sudden disappearance of ornaments and diamonds worth Rs4.66 crore on Thursday night from Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CISA), the police are yet to recover the stolen valuables.

The precious cargo, kept in two packets in a locked container weighing 3.5 kg, was offloaded from a Thai Airways aeroplane on Thursday night by AI handlers. The police claimed that the container was broken while being transported to the strong-room.

“The three arrested persons have confessed to the crime,” said Assistant Commissioner of Police Janardhan Garje. “The container was found in the dumping ground inside the airport. Investigations revealed that these three were the last persons seen handling the container.”

Soon after a complaint was lodged with Sahar police on Thursday, the cops swung into action and on Saturday arrested Prakash Shinde, 29, Gerald D’ Costa, 29, and Ramesh Rajak, 40. All three are employed with the Air India and work as loaders. They are residents of Nalasopara. They have been remanded in police custody till October 19.