Colonel's wife alleges theft of jewellery by airport security

The wife of a Colonel in Indian Army has lodged an FIR with Sarojini Nagar police station in Lucknow, accusing CISF and a private security company of stealing her ornaments worth Rs 36 lakh.

Sonia Vyas Bhatt alleged that her ornaments were stolen while she was going to meet her husband in Dibrugarh by a flight connecting Lucknow to New Delhi on November 30, 2021.

She also said she returned to Lucknow and later took up her case on January 8.

She has lodged a case of theft against the airport officials and CISF officials deployed at Sarojini Nagar police station.

In her complaint, the woman said she, along with her daughter, was going to meet her husband in Dibrugarh from Lucknow via Delhi airport on November 30.

"I had to take a connecting flight for Dibrugarh from Delhi. I had a handbag, a backpack, a sling bag and a black purse in which I had put all my jewellery worth Rs 36 lakh. At the screening point, a CISF woman constable asked me to show the purse and ornaments in it. I requested her to check it inside the purse and not take it out. I had put the ornaments in a transparent box. But she did not listen to me," she said.

According to the FIR, the woman constable took out the ornament box and put it on another tray there.

When she went to take her ornament box, the CISF constable took it back from her and put it into another tray.

"In the meantime, the airport announced the boarding time and I took my bag and went to board the flight. In the flight, I found the ornament box missing and I complained about the same to the flight attendant who advised me to report to CISF in New Delhi," she said.

Bhatt further mentioned in the FIR that she had reported the matter to CISF in New Delhi and also to her husband. "The boarding for my flight for Dibrugarh was announced and so I was asked to board the flight and report the matter in Dibrugarh after reaching there," she said.

She said she reported the matter to CISF in Dibrugarh and made several calls to the airport officials to inform them about the incident.

"I was promised help in the matter but when I reached Lucknow on January 8, I was shown CCTV footage in which it was seen that the ornament box fell down from the scanning tray during the checking by the CISF officials," she said.

The victim said the quality of the CCTV footage was very poor. "The camera was of very poor quality. No CCTV footage was available after the ornament box was seen falling down from scanning," she complained.

She said she had a hunch that she was not shown the entire length of the CCTV footage or it was cut/ deleted deliberately or was not saved purposely. She alleged that the CISF and airport officials stole her ornaments.

Additional Deputy Commissioner of police, Central Zone, Raghvendra Mishra, said that an FIR was registered under the charges of theft and a probe has been ordered.