In an incident that has exposed security and related measures in place at the Chennai Airport to prevent smuggling and foul play, a staff of Air India took a huge volume of US Dollars from a passenger and kept it inside an Air India aircraft, well ahead of its departure to Singapore early on Sunday morning.
The incident is also bound to have far reaching repercussions and airport sources have already hinted at the possibility of reviewing certain procedures in place.
Personnel of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence arrested habitual offender M. Shah Jahan (42) of Royapuram and his accomplice, K. Prasad (54), an employee of Air India in this connection.
Providing details, C. Rajan, Additional Director General, Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, Chennai, said Shah Jahan had a booked a ticket in the Air India flight to Singapore, scheduled to depart early morning on Sunday. He arrived at Gate No. 9 of the Chennai Airport around midnight on Saturday and handed over a bundle of US Dollar currency notes to Prasad, working with Air India as a Catering Superintendent.
Vehicles operated by various flight kitchens carrying flight cuisine to air passengers normally enter the airport through Gate No. 9. Prasad wrapped the bundle of currency notes in a newspaper and hid it in his vest. He then entered the aircraft and placed the bundle in the seat that was to be occupied by Shah Jahan.
Based on a tip-off, DRI personnel checked the flight and caught Prasad and Shah Jehan red-handed. Mr. Rajan said that while recording his statement, Prasad had confessed that he had helped Shah Jahan on more than one occasion in the past. Shah Jahan was a habitual offender. Apart from the bundle recovered from the aircraft, some more notes were seized from Shah Jahan’s hand baggage. He was arrested under provisions of Customs Act for smuggling, while Prasad was held for abetting the crime. The value of the seized US Dollars was placed at around Rs. 20 lakh.
