Journalism of Courage
Premium

Airline employee booked on extortion charges at Indira Gandhi International Airport

The Qatar Airways employee, identified as Prashant Bhatia was handed over to the IGI police, after he reportedly could not give a satisfactory reply as to why he accepted cash from the flyer when his travel documents were in proper order.

Delhi, mumbai, airport, flights congestion, flights delayed, india news, indian express Indira Gandhi International airport.  ( Source: Flickr/Representational Image) 
Advertisement

An employee of Qatar Airways working at the Indira Gandhi International airport in Delhi, has been booked on charges of extortion after he was allegedly caught taking Rs 35,000 cash from a Doha-bound flyer.

Officials said the incident took place late night on July 26 after CISF personnel detected the foreign airline employee taking some cash from the passenger on CCTV.

The Qatar Airways employee has been identified as Prashant Bhatia and was handed over to the IGI police after he reportedly could not give a satisfactory reply as to why he accepted cash from the flyer when his travel documents were in proper order.

“He has been booked under Section 384 (extortion) of IPC and investigation is on. Prima facie it looks like this was a ploy by Bhatia to extort money from low profile and desirous flyers going to Gulf countries and ensuring them a seat on the airline,” said a senior police officer.

The passenger from whom the accused was taking money has given a complaint to the police. The cash of Rs 35,000 paid by him was recovered from Bhatia, he said.

A response from Qatar Airways in this regard was awaited.

Watch Video: What’s making news

Police said that they are questioning the accused as it was suspected that a network of airport staff were involved in extorting money from low-profile, needy passengers going to foreign countries for job opportunities.

Story continues below this ad

Sources said that security agencies also questioned the supervising staff of Qatar Airways which said that they have no policy to take cash from any passenger.

From the homepage

Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram

Tags:
Edition
Install the Express App for
a better experience
Featured
Trending Topics
News
Multimedia
Follow Us
Express PremiumDiwali is Light, Love, and Life: A Journey Through Tradition and Togetherness
X