Four employees of Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) were arrested for allegedly stealing 20 mobile phones from an incoming Hong Kong air cargo, on Tuesday.
The four accused were later identified as Nitin Yadav, RS Rawat, Sunil Yadav and Surendra Kumar and were employed in ground handling firm of IGIA.
The incident came to the fore when Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) officials detected suspicious activities of two ground handling staffers at the cargo terminal around 10.45 pm. CISF spokesperson Hemendra Singh said, “Over a dozen new phones of a domestic mobile phone maker and its accessories were found concealed under the jackets of these men and later on their sustained questioning two other people from the same firm were nabbed for their alleged involvement in the theft.”
The CISF team investigating the case later found that a carton containing these phones was allegedly kept hidden by these men at parking bay no 85 “with the intention to take out the cell phones from it as per their convenience.”
“The four personnel of Cambata Aviation staff were later handed over to IGIA police,” Singh said. Deputy Commissioner of Police (IGIA) DK Gupta confirmed that four employees of the said company have been arrested under various provisions of law.
The CISF said a total of 20 new mobiles and an equal number of accessories of these phones like battery, charger, USB data cable and headphones were recovered, from both the apprehended men and also found lying in the parking area after the package carton was tampered, during the operation. They said a report of some mobile phone pieces missing from an incoming cargo flight from Hong Kong was also registered yesterday, few hours before the four men were held. Police is now investigating the case further, they said. The CISF, which guards the IGIA, has deployed a special scanner at the cargo and passenger terminals in order to check the menace of theft from baggage.