Valuables worth lakhs of rupees were stolen from a Non-Resident Indian (NRI) and his family members at the Biju Patnaik International Airport (BPAI) here on Tuesday.
As per a complaint lodged by NRI Neeraj Chand at the Airfield police station, nine passports belonging to his wife and two children, an expensive mobile phone, 3,000 dollars and a non-citizen card were stolen from them.
“We have come from Ghana for a darshan of lord Jagannath in Puri. When we came out of the airport a hand bag was kept on the luggage trolley in which we had kept the money, passports and other documents. But in a flash it vanished. When we approached the local police they initially declined to lodge an FIR and asked us to say that it was misplaced instead of stolen.”
But later, after speaking to the CISF personnel and going through the CCTV footage, police admitted that it was stolen and registered a case. We appeal to the airport authorities and the local police to help us and initiate immediate action in this regard,” Neeraj said.
Police have started investigation into the matter. However, the theft in the international airport has triggered panic among the passengers. It might be mentioned while CISF is in charge of the security inside the airport, outside it the Airfield police are responsible for it. A police station, which was planned especially for the airport is yet to be operational.