CISF’s ‘side job’ — tracking fliers to return lost belongings

In November, Penny Bradshaw and her husband from San Francisco lost their iPad at the Mumbai airport. According to her email, they realised it was missing while eating at a restaurant at the airport and as they rushed back to security check-in area, an officer who was holding the cover of their iPad stopped them.

“CISF’s Tushar Gaiwad had found our photo in my photos file on the iPad, and had been asking many people if they had seen us and had been searching for us for over an hour,” the email explained. “I would have lost so many photos forever, as well as my precious iPad. This has shown us how honest are the people in your programme, as well as India,” the email stated.

The emails are from passengers who wanted to thank CISF officials for returning items such as laptops, keys, iPads, cameras, and luggage and money left behind by them at Mumbai’s domestic and international terminals.

A majority of ‘lost’  articles are left behind at security check-in trays, said CISF officials. “Passengers are asked to take out all their metal items and, in a hurry, they forget to collect all their things. Another place is the check-in area where early passengers leave their bags behind in a rush to check in,” said a senior CISF official.

“I was most impressed by the professionalism, kindness and team effort involved in tracking us down. I want to add that when my husband attempted to reward Tushar Gaikwad with some money, he replied that he was proud of his uniform and would not accept a reward,” said Bradshaw in an email to The Indian Express.

CCTV footage helped CISF track advocate Shivaji Jadhav, who had left his leather pouch containing Rs 2 lakh and credit cards at the airport. “I realised I lost my pouch when I boarded the flight. I did not even imagine that I would get it back. But that’s when CISF’s Anujkumar and his colleague called me and came all the way to the flight to return it to me,” his email says.

Several emails show instances where CISF officials have sent lost articles through another passenger or cabin crew on the next flight to the passenger’s destination.  Kolkata-bound Satarupa Chakraborty had left her laptop bag containing ‘confidential documents’ behind at the Mumbai airport. “CISF officials called up and sent the bag through another passenger on the next flight,” her email reads.

All lost articles with details found by CISF are uploaded on their website http://www.cisf.gov.in/lost-and-found, said officials. “Receiving such emails brings a sense of pride in our guys, who serve people in addition to their duty to provide security,” a senior official said.

anjali.lukose@expressindia.com