Were VIP Planes Used To Carry Truckloads Of Cash Outside India? Probe On

New Delhi:  In an investigation that has major repercussions on aviation safety, the Enforcement Directorate is probing whether chartered planes were used to ferry truckloads of cash in and outside the country.
The probe, which involves multiple agencies, is at a formative stage, but has found at least a few instances whereby chartered planes used by VIPs were modified with cubbyholes where cash could be stashed and carried undetected.

Investigators have, however, told NDTV there is no evidence yet of the owners of such chartered planes or their VIP clients being involved.

The issue came to light in May when the Central Bureau of Investigation or CBI arrested a former journalist and businessman, Upendra Rai, for obtaining an aerodrome entry pass from the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security by giving fake credentials.
The pass gave him access to all airports across the country. Though the CBI arrested the businessman, executives of private plane operator Air One and some airport officials, the investigators did not reveal Mr Rai's motives for getting such an all-access pass.
31/08/18 Sunetra Choudhury/NDTV

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B'luru airport bomb hoax caller en engineer with MBA, wanted to work as security guard

The investigation into the series of hoax bomb threats made to the Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru, has revealed that the suspect arrested on Wednesday reportedly felt aggrieved after he was denied a job as a security guard at the airport.

Aditya Rao, 35 years old, a resident of Manipal, was arrested in connection with the case near Baiyappanahalli on Tuesday evening. He had been dubbed the 'Catch Me If You Can' caller, a reference to 2002 crime film, starring Leonardo Di Caprio.

An investigating police officer told TNM that Aditya holds a mechanical engineering degree and an MBA, and had arrived in Bengaluru six months ago seeking a job. "During interrogation, he said that he applied for a job as a security guard at the airport, but was denied the job. It was odd for someone with his qualifications to apply for the post of a security guard," he said.
Aditya, who graduated from an institute in Mysuru in 2008, claims he has held several jobs in the last decade. He first worked as a sales manager at ICICI Bank in Bengaluru, before taking up a job at HSBC Bank. He had another short stint working at ICICI Bank before working as an insurance agent for Aditya Birla Life Insurance for a month and as a design engineer for a firm for another month.
In the past week, Aditya has sent police officers in the city on a wild goose hunt after he made three calls to the airport claiming that a bomb had been placed inside its premises. One of the calls made on Monday to the nodal officer of AirAsia India even delayed a flight headed to Pune by 45 minutes.
30/08/18 Prajwal Bhat/News Minute

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British national with satellite phone detained at airport

Kolkata: A British national was detained by the Central Industrial Security Force at Kolkata Airport on Thursday for carrying a satellite phone. He was later handed over to the police. The officers at NSCBI Police Station seized the satellite phone. Around 3.30 pm on Thursday, the 33-year-old British national, Prior Mathew, was detained at the airport after the CISF personnel found a satellite phone in his handbag. It was found during the pre-embarkation security check through X-BIS machine in the Security Hold Area at the airport.
Sub-inspector Ved Prakash of CISF detected the satellite phone from Mathew's handbag. He was supposed to travel from Kolkata to Delhi by an Air India flight. He was scheduled to take a connecting flight to Hong Kong from Delhi.
According to police sources, the satellite phone was seized as its use is ban in India. He was allowed to go following discussions over the matter with the British Consulate in Kolkata.
30/08/18 millennium post

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Elderly foreign national allegedly thrashed by Delhi airport staffer

New Delhi: In a shocking incident in a high-security zone, a foreign national was allegedly thrashed by a Delhi airport employee at the 1D Terminal here on Wednesday afternoon.

DNA reported that the foreign national, who is in India to travel the country with a friend, was assaulted by an employee of  Air India Singapore Airport Terminal Services (AISATS) after a heated war of words between the two. It is reported that the passenger inquired why she had been charged a certain amount for her ticket but was not satisfied with the reply she received from the woman behind the Air India ticket counter at the terminal. The passenger then clicked a photo of the employee - accusing her of stealing her money, before making her way to the exit gate.

It is then that the employee is believed to have emerged from behind the ticket counter and began pulling the passenger's handbag before allegedly slapping, shoving and pushing her. Eyewitness accounts say that CISF personnel refused to intervene and it was only when fellow travellers raised an alarm that the victim could be pulled to safety. By then, however, she had suffered injuries and was bleeding.
30/08/18 Zee News

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Delhi: Woman held after throwing power bank in rage at airport

New Delhi: Delhi Police has arrested a 56-year-old woman for allegedly creating a ruckus at Indira Gandhi International Airport, after she was asked by screening staff of Delhi International Airport Limited to remove a power bank from her check-in luggage.

“We have arrested the woman, Malvika Tiwari, a resident of Defence Colony, after registering an FIR under IPC sections 336 (endangering life or personal safety of others) and 285 (negligent conduct with respect to fire or combustible matter). She was later released on bail,” DCP (Airport) Sanjay Bhatia said.

Investigation revealed she was sitting at Terminal 1 and was waiting to board a flight to Dharamshala when she was called back by the airlines. “She was asked to remove her power bank but she got agitated and threw the device at the wall. It burst on impact, leading to panic,” a senior officer said.
30/08/18 Indian Express

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CISF apprehends man with satellite phone at IGI airport

New Delhi: A Bengaluru-bound passenger has been apprehended by the CISF at the IGI airport here for allegedly carrying an unauthorised satellite phone in his luggage, a senior official said today.

T Sharma, who has an Indian passport, was apprehended by Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel late yesterday after the phone was detected in his baggage, he said.
28/08/18 PTI/India.com

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Customs suspects gold carriers getting training

Pune: Customs officials fear that people smuggling gold into the country are receiving specific training on how to use various parts of an aircraft to hide the yellow metal.
Last month, six gold biscuits worth Rs 22 lakh were seized from the oxygen panel at the rear lavatory of the SpiceJet Dubai-Pune flight. Officials probing the seizure and similar cases said they suspected that the handlers chalking out the smuggling blueprints are ensuring adequate training for the carriers to hide the consignments and execute the plans.

“In most cases, gold has been recovered concealed either in the luggage or the body parts of these carriers. But there have been instances of the metal being found from the aircraft as well. The last month’s recovery led us to suspect that these carriers know various aspects of an aircraft — its interior and the apt places to hide gold,” an official said.

“It seems that the carriers are trained enough. It’s not possible for a novice to open the oxygen panel of an aircraft and hide gold there,” he said.
29/08/18 Joy Sengupta/Times of India

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Bomb hoax leads to delay in two AirAsia flights from Bengaluru

Pune: An AirAsia flight to Pune from Bengaluru was delayed by around two hours on Monday because of a bomb hoax.
The flight (I5 1426), scheduled to take off from Bengaluru at 1.05pm, departed only at 3.32pm. An AirAsia official said another flight of theirs from Bengaluru to Hyderabad (I5 1516) was also affected because of a bomb hoax, triggering commotion among the airline staffers and the airport authorities in Bengaluru.

Prashant Pansare, an entrepreneur travelling on the flight to Pune on Monday wrote on his Twitter handle, “The flight is delayed with all passengers stranded without any clear clues on what is happening. Is there a security glitch or some technical glitch? We don’t know yet.”

After a while, he tweeted again, “Absolute chaos at the airport. Staff is now telling security alert with no clear information and help to stranded passengers.”

29/08/18 Joy Sengupta/Times of India

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Man posing as airport staff booked for fraud

Amritsar: A man, posing as an airport employee, has been booked for duping residents of Rs1 lakh on the pretext of providing them the job of peon at the airport.

The accused has been identified as Jagtar Singh, a resident of Waringh Mohan Singh village.

In his complaint, victim Nishan Singh told the police that the accused duped him saying that he is a government employee at Shri Guru Ramdas Jee International Airport.
28/08/18 Tribune

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Air India ousts senior executive accused of sexual harassment

Mumbai: National carrier Air India has removed a senior executive from the post of general manager for alleged involvement in a sexual harassment case.
The ousted executive was accused of sexual harassment by an Air India air hostess, who had also written a letter to civil aviation minister Suresh Prabhu in this regards in May.
As per a airline notification issued last week, general manager for flight dispatch (headquarters) will hold the additional charge of the GM-IFS (HQ).
"General manager flight dispatch will hold the additional charge of the post of GM(IFS), headquarters...the duty assigned to GM(IFS) will be notified in due course," the Air India general manager (personnel) said in a notification dated August 21.
27/08/18 PTI/Times of India

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Air India pilot relocated after sexual harassment claims

New Delhi: National carrier Air India on Monday took action against a senior pilot for allegedly sexually harassing a hostess of the same flight. He has been "relocated" from the post of General Manager In-flight service (IFS).
The action by the national carrier came after the victim air hostess wrote a letter to Minister of Civil Aviation Suresh Prabhu, Chairman and Managing Director of Air India and Minister for Women and Child Development Maneka Gandhi, seeking justice.
After an intervention by the concerned ministry, Air India took action against the senior pilot and removed him from the post.
Confirming the news to ANI, Air India spokesperson said, "Captain DX Pais has been relocated from General Manager IFS post, we will nothing add more because it's an internal matter of Air India."
28/08/18 ANI/Business Standard

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Bomb hoax call again at Bengaluru airport

Bengaluru: Security was tightened in and around Kempegowda International Airport on Monday following a call made by a man claiming that an IED had been planted in an Air India flight.
The officials carried out standard operating procedure and sanitised the entire area with the anti-sabotage squad. The KIA police later confirmed that it was a hoax call.
28/08/18 The Hindu

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Supreme Court dismisses journalist's plea against ED’s Rajeshwar Singh

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed a plea of journalist Upendra Rai seeking to restrain Enforcement Directorate officer Rajeshwar Singh from conducting probe against him in a graft case.
A bench of Justices A.K. Sikri and Ashok Bhushan said the cases lodged against Rai have nothing to do with the 2G case pending before it and his plea is not maintainable in the present set of proceedings.
Rai was arrested on June 8 by the agency under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) at the Tihar Jail here, moments after he secured bail in a CBI case related to alleged extortion and dubious financial transactions.
He was arrested by the CBI on May 3 for allegedly indulging in dubious financial transactions, getting an airport access pass made by the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) by furnishing false information, alleged extortion and manipulation of an Income Tax Department case against a Mumbai-bound businessman.
28/08/18 Telegraph

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Passengers held for smuggling

Chennai: Customs officials at the Chennai International Airport have arrested three passengers, for attempting to smuggle foreign currencies and gold.
On Sunday morning, a passenger who was to board the Singapore-bound flight at 1.20 a.m., was intercepted by the Air Intelligence Wing officials. He was found to be carrying foreign currencies worth ₹81.6 lakh. The passenger was holding US dollars, Singapore dollars, Euros, and Brunei dollars, an offence under Customs Act, 1962. Another passenger, Rakeebudeen Kaja Nawas, 43, of Kayalpattinam, bound for Colombo, was detained at the airport after he was found carrying US dollars worth ₹3.5 lakh.
In a similar case, Shaik Shafi Ahamad, 39, a passenger who arrived by KU-343 from Kuwait at 2.15 a.m., was detained for carrying gold strips worth ₹4.5 lakh, coated with copper paint.
27/08/18 The Hindu

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Attack on airport staff: 5 arrested

Ahmadabad: Airport police filed complaint against 10 persons who had allegedly attacked airport staff when they went to take possession of parking services at the airport after the services of the outsourced company were discontinued. Five accused were arrested from the spot. Since the time airport authority had terminated the parking contract of MSSM enterprise and served notice to vacate the premises, there have been issues.
Passengers had complained of long parking queues while leaving the airport terminal, forcing them to shell out money.
Airports Authority of India after about a year’s service with parking contractor MSSM decided to suspend its services on August 24. As per the complaint by airport official Vijaydas Harkantadas, after the termination of the contract, staff of the old contractor had not vacated the premises and continued to collect parking fees from visitors.
So, on Friday night he and other staff members reached the parking area to take possession of parking area. But, the agency’s men refused to vacate the area and allegedly beat him and other staff members.
27/08/18 Ahmedabad Mirror

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Nigerian national held with fake visa

Bengaluru: The Bureau of Immigration officials at Kempegowda International Airport arrested a 25-year-old Nigerian national while she was boarding a domestic flight to Delhi with fake visa permits on Wednesday.

According to officials, Ogah Oluwtomisin Stella from Abuja, Nigeria, forged a visa and had been living in Delhi for one year after her original student visa expired. She was able to procure the forged documents through a contact identified only as Ijata. Inquiries revealed that the woman had come to India in October 2016 on student visa and enrolled in a private college in Bengaluru to study theology. She later moved to Delhi as she was unable to adjust to life in Bengaluru.

Y.S. Saini, Immigration officer, in his complaint to the police said that when her visa expired, Stella managed to procure fake documents. It was on these documents that she recently travelled from Delhi to Bengaluru, and got caught during her return journey. Mr. Saini, while verifying her passport and visa documents, realised something amiss. On closer inspection, he realised that even the seal of Delhi airport immigration authorities had been forged.
26/08/18 The Hindu

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Bid to smuggle foreign currencies foiled

Tiruchi: Officials of the Customs Air Intelligence Unit seized foreign currencies that were being smuggled by an air passenger at the Tiruchi international airport in the early hours on Sunday.

The confiscated currencies were that of Oman Rials, Kuwait Dinars and UAE Dirhams totally valued at Rs. 37.43 lakh in Indian value.

Airport sources said the foreign currencies were seized from Mohamed Sulthan Raja, 20, of Tiruvarur when he attempted to smuggle them out of the country to Dubai by an Air India Express flight.

The foreign currencies were concealed in hand luggages and in person, said the sources.
27/08/18 The Hindu

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Delhi’s IGI airport a hub of gold smuggling

New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport has become a hub of gold smuggling, with more than 100 cases registered from January to June this year alone, according to information available with the Ministry of Finance. The Customs Department has seized gold worth around Rs 4,602 lakh between January and June from those trying to smuggle into India the yellow metal in the form of biscuits or jewellery. In terms of weight, around 150 kg of gold has been impounded by the Customs Department

According to highly placed sources in the Customs Department, gold is smuggled into India from places like Hong Kong, Dubai, Singapore, Bangkok and even Turkmenistan, where prices are relatively lower than in India and the differential translates into huge profits in India.

Sources in both the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), which is responsible for maintaining security at airports, and the Customs Department, said that much of the smuggling happens in connivance with the airport staff and sometimes with the involvement of the Customs officials themselves.
25/081/8 Dibyendu Mondal/Sunday Guardian Live

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Woman arrested with illegal pistol at Babatpur airport

Varanasi: A woman was arrested with illegal pistol at Babatpur airport, police said here on Saturday.
She was heading towards Mumbai from Varanasi.
Police sources here said that Kumud Singh, hailed from Chauri area of Badhohi district, was arrested after an illegal pistol was recovered from her bag during checking at Babatpur airport here late on Friday night.
She was going to meet with her husband who works in Mumbai.
25/08/18 UNI

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AAI staff molests woman at IGI Airport, thrashed

New Delhi: High drama prevailed at the IGI Airport when a 40-year-old woman thrashed a man with her sandal and got him arrested after he touched her inappropriately on Wednesday night, said a Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) official on Friday.
“On Wednesday, at about 8.10 pm, a lady passenger arrived from Amritsar to Delhi by an Air India flight. She complained to the airline staff that during de-boarding from the ferry bus, the accused had touched her inappropriately. Soon after her complaint, CISF personnel reached the location. In the meantime, the lady, who was furious at his misconduct, had beaten the accused with her sandal. Her husband, who was accompanying her, made a PCR call,” said a CISF official.
The accused was produced before the court on Thursday, where he was released on bail, said a police official.
24/08/18 Sunil Thapliyal/Asian Age

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