Two held for stealing from air passengers

“While scanning the (CCTV) footage,we realised the behaviour of some passengers who had left the airport after getting their flights cancelled was suspicious. Our teams checked the details further only to find out that the same people had been caught earlier in a case of theft in Ahmedabad,” said a senior CISF official.

While the CISF personnel were able to zero in on the accused,they needed evidence for arrest. The chance,officials said,came when another passenger lodged a complaint about losing Rs 8,000 during check-in on Wednesday.

“We caught 51-year-old Sher Sayyad with Rs 35,884 inside the airport. During questioning,Sayyad confessed to the crime and named Sharma as his associate. Sharma had taken off in a flight to Patna. A team was then alerted and Sharma was arrested at the Patna airport on Wednesday,” a CISF official said.

According to sources,Sayyed was arrested after he was deboarded from a Mumbai-bound Air India flight.

The modus operandi of the gang,officials said,was different from other petty thieves as this gang chose to rob unsuspecting,high-profile passengers at airports.

Sharma had included Sayyad (an auto driver from Mumbai) and another Mumbai resident called Nizam in his gang,officials said. At times they would get their tickets cancelled after stealing,while on other occasions they would travel to the destination,they added. The third member of the gang is still absconding.

“During questioning,Sayyad told the CISF that he got a 35 per cent cut from whatever he stole. They would work in groups and one of the members would divert the attention of the victims while the other stole,” an official said.