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New Delhi: Police said that a 40-year-old man has been arrested for allegedly stealing jewellery and other valuables from handbags of co-passengers on various flights on Monday. Ge added that the accused was identified as Rajesh Kapoor, who took at least 200 flights and travelled for over 110 days last year to commit the thefts.
About this incident, Deputy Commissioner of Police (IGI) Usha Rangnani said at a press conference at the IGI airport, Kapoor was arrested from Paharganj, where he had allegedly kept the stolen jewellery. Police had arrested another ally of Kapoor, Sharad Jain (46), to whom he was planning to sell the stolen items, she added.
In the last three months, two separate cases of theft were reported on different flights, she said. After which a dedicated team was formed from IGI Airport to nab the culprits. On April 11, a passenger lost her jewellery worth Rs 7 lakh while travelling from Hyderabad to Delhi.
On February 2, Another theft was reported, in which a passenger lost jewellery worth Rs 20 lakh while travelling from Amritsar to Delhi. During the investigation, CCTV footage and flight manifests of Delhi and Amritsar airports were analysed she also said. She said a suspect was shortlisted as he was seen on both the flights on which theft incidents were reported.
The official said the phone number of the suspected passenger was obtained from the airline concerned, but he had given a fake number at the time of booking. After technical surveillance, Kapoor’s original phone number was traced and he was apprehended. Police said that on sustained interrogation, he confessed to being involved in five such cases, including the one in Hyderabad
He revealed that he spent most of the cash on online and offline gambling. Kapoor was found to be involved in 11 cases of theft, gambling and criminal breach of trust, of which five cases were from airports. Another police official said Kapoor used to target vulnerable passengers, especially elderly women travelling internationally.
The official said,”Recognising the tendency of such passengers to carry valuables in their handbags, he would strategically travel by premium domestic flights, especially Air India and Vistara to destinations such as Delhi, Chandigarh and Hyderabad.” The official added taking advantage of the chaos of boarding, he would stealthily enter the upper cabins, carefully evaluate and steal valuables from the victims’ handbags while the passengers were seated in their seats.
He told that many times after reaching the target, he got his seat changed by the airline and sat right next to the target. His method, carefully timed to coincide with the distractions inherent in the boarding process, allowed him to escape undetected. To avoid identification, Kapoor employed a deceptive strategy – booking tickets in the name of his deceased brother – to conceal his identity from both airlines and law enforcement agencies.
