An assistant sub-inspector with the Border Security Force (BSF) was arrested at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport for allegedly stealing jewellery from a woman’s purse, the police said on Wednesday.
Acting swiftly, the police recovered the entire stolen jewellery within 45 minutes.
The accused, identified as Naresh Kumar, is a resident of Haryana, currently posted in Siliguri as an ASI.
The police said, on July 9 morning, a woman passenger arrived at the IGI Airport with her husband to board a flight to Srinagar. After completing the security check formalities with the airline, the couple reached Gate No. 41 and were waiting for boarding.
Security staff alerted
The woman sat on a chair and kept her purse under it. She fell asleep, while her husband was away. When she woke up, she found her purse, containing gold jewellery worth several lakhs, missing. After she failed to locate the purse, she reported the matter to the security personnel on the airport premises.
DCP (Airport) Sanjay Bhatia said that a police team also reached the area after being alerted by the airport security staff. Sub-inspector Ajay Mishra with other team members promptly reacted to the situation as several flights were about to take off and there were chances of losing the suspect.
CCTV footage
“After getting details from the woman passenger, the police team minutely scanned the CCTV camera footage to identify the suspect. In one footage, Kumar, sitting next to the woman, was seen taking away her purse and moving to another side of the premises,” said Mr. Bhatia.
The suspect was traced in other CCTV footages. It was found that he entered a washroom with the purse and a few minutes later came out empty handed. “We recovered the purse from the washroom and got clarity about the suspect. Other security personnel at the airport were alerted. The suspect was nabbed just when he was about to board a flight to Siliguri,” said Mr. Bhatia.
He was arrested under IPC Section 379 (punishment for theft) against an FIR registered at PS IGI Airport. The stolen items were recovered from his pocket during frisking after which he was held, added Mr. Bhatia.
Kumar had come home and was returning to resume work. Medical examination confirmed that the accused was drunk, said Mr. Bhatia.