Airline guard held on extortion charge

The Sahar police recently arrested an airline security guard for allegedly extorting money from a passenger travelling to UAE on a fake visa.

Sanjeev Kumar Keshavdas, 31, a security agent of Etihad Airways, was arrested on April 27. “Keshavdas took money from Shamlal Nanakchand and allowed him to travel on a fake visa,” said Dilip Patil, senior inspector at Sahar police station. Nanakchand, 35, of Haryana has also been arrested.

Nanakchand was to take a flight to UAE from Mumbai airport on April 24. “He was to travel by Mumbai-Ireland Etihad flight EY 206 via Abu Dhabi. He was carrying a forged passport which stated that he was from South Africa,” said Patil. Before immigration check, Keshavdas noticed that the passport was fake and took Nanakchand to a corner. “He told Nanakchand that he knew that the passport was fake,” said Patil. He then demanded $200 from Keshavdas to not report the matter to the police.

A scared Nanakchand paid him the money and proceeded to the transit lounge after finishing his immigration check. “Keshavdas met him there also and demanded another Rs100.  Nanakchand paid him the amount,” a police officer said.

Nanakchand reached Abu Dhabi, but immigration authorities there detected the fake passport and deported him to India on Sunday.