Stolen diamonds found in gutter

Mumbai: Seventy-four plastic packets, stuffed with gold ornaments and diamonds worth Rs4.54 crore, which had gone missing at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport after being offloaded from a Thai Airways plane on Thursday night, were recovered by police on Monday from a gutter near the Air India canteen.
Earlier on Saturday, police had arrested Gerald d’Costa, 29, Ramesh Rajak, 40, and Prakash Shinde, 29. The three Air India handlers had unloaded Thai Airways cargo on Thursday night. D’Costa, Rajak and Shinde, all residents of Nallasopara, have been remanded in police custody till October 19.
The incident has exposed a flaw in the airport security system - improper screening of lower level staff. “These people (the three arrested persons) and lower-level staff employed at the airport are well-acquainted with the premises and its functioning.
Thorough screening of these people is a must,” said KL Prasad, JCP (Law & Order).
16/10/07 Somendra Sharma/Daily News & Analysis

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Categories: Air India Domestic Oct 2007, Airports Oct 2007, Foreign Oct 2007, NACL Oct 2007