Police crack Mumbai diamond heist case

Mumbai: Thursday’s diamond and jewellery heist which had led to questions about the security arrangements at Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport appears to have been solved by the Sahar police on Saturday.
Highly-placed sources said the police picked up five cargo loaders who are believed to have stolen the consignment containing 3.5 kg of gold ornaments and 74 diamonds collectively worth Rs 4.5 crore.
The police detained about 25 loaders who were on duty on Thursday night when the Thai Airways flight from Bangkok (TG-317) arrived at Mumbai airport with the consignment. After investigation, five loaders were detained and most of the stolen booty, which they had stashed away inside an office in the cargo area, was recovered, the sources said.
Senior inspector C K Chavan of the Sahar airport police station refused to divulge the details.
Thai Airways officials told the police that they had off-loaded the containers under strict vigilance and that they were to be stored in a secured area. But the handlers mistakenly put it in an area where empty containers are stored, from where the loaders may have broken the container and stolen the gold and diamonds.
14/10/07 S Ahmed Ali/Times of India

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Categories: Airports Oct 2007