A pilot possessing a U.S. airline transport pilot licence (ATPL), who allegedly resorted to fraud to obtain the same licence in India as he could not clear one of the five papers in an examination conducted by the Directorate-General of Civil Aviation, has been arrested by the Delhi Police.
Swarn Singh Talwar of neighbouring Gurgaon, who earlier worked for a private airline, was arrested on Tuesday. According to the police, he procured the ATPL in India through Pradeep Tyagi, who has already been arrested along with Pradeep Kumar, a DGCA assistant director, and touts Lalit Jain and Pankaj Jain.
During interrogation, Singh is said to have disclosed that Tyagi, who according to the police had himself obtained a licence on fake papers, promised him to arrange for the ATPL for Rs.50,000 and he paid the money. Tyagi allegedly got a forged marksheet prepared through Lalit and Pankaj and on that basis Singh was issued the licence last July.
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Deputy Commissioner (Crime Branch) Ashok Chand said Singh joined the air wing of the National Cadet Corps and obtained a “C” certificate during his graduation. He joined the Rajasthan Flying Club in Jaipur in 1992 and flew for 20 hours. Thereafter, he joined the Delhi Flying Club in 1993-94. Singh went to Texas in the United States in 1995 for a commercial pilot licence (CPL). In mid-1996, he came back with a CPL and four months later he went to Sydney and in 1998 got the CPL from the U.S. converted into special pilot licence in Australia.
In 2007, Singh got the Australian licence converted into a CPL in India, after clearing a CPL examination conducted by DGCA. He then joined a private airline as co-pilot and worked with it until the company folded up in October 2009.
Singh went to Louisiana in the U.S. about a year ago and obtained an ATPL from there. A month later, he applied for the DGCA examination to get his American ATPL converted. However, he could not clear one of the papers.
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