The arrest of two baggage handlers by Sahar police this week shows that your baggage is not safe, even when it is home-delivered by the airlines.
The arrest of two baggage handlers by Sahar police this week shows that your baggage is not safe, even when it is home-delivered by the airlines. Whether your baggage is registered or delayed, to expect that it will reach your doorstep untampered, is apparently too much to ask for.
On December 16, Sahar police arrested Manoj Chaudhary (28) and Laltun Jha (26) for stealing valuables worth Rs36,000 from baggage they had hand-delivered to a passenger. Akshata Shinde (24), who is studying in the US, had come to Mumbai by a Jet Airways flight on December 10. She took an American Airlines flight (A 132), from New York to London, and the Jet flight (9W 019) from London to Mumbai. “When she reached Mumbai, she discovered her baggage had not arrived, and the airlines staff told her that it would be delivered to her residence when it did reach,” says a cop from the Sahar police station.
On December 12 morning, Shinde’s bag was delivered to her Borivli residence by Chaudhary, who works for baggage delivery services in a firm outsourced by Jet Airways. “When she opened her bag, she found a laptop, some perfume and a box of chocolates missing,” says the policeman. After taking up the matter with the airlines, Shinde filed a police complaint the following day.
During investigations, the cops found that the baggage had come intact all the way from New York and London. “Even the screening done at Mumbai airport showed that the laptop and other things were still in the bag,” says Dilip Patil, senior PI at Sahar police station. “This means the goods were stolen after the bag was handed over to the delivery service.”
On December 16, the cops arrested Chaudhary and Jha from their residence, although no recovery was made. They have been charged under Sections 34 (common intention) and 379 (punishment for theft) of the Indian Penal Code, and remanded to police custody for seven days.
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