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How CISF busted a human trafficking nexus after passenger skipped flight at Delhi airport

A passenger skipping his international flight led to authorities unravelling a human trafficking nexus at Delhi's IGI airport on Wednesday. Four Air India employees and a passenger were detained by CISF officials. Read how and what led to the busting of this nexus.

In a shocking case, four Air India employees and a passenger were detained at the Delhi airport on Wednesday for their alleged involvement in human trafficking.
How CISF busted a human trafficking nexus after passenger skipped flight at Delhi airport (Photo: CISF)

By ETV Bharat English Team

Published : Dec 28, 2023, 7:46 PM IST

New Delhi:In a shocking case, four Air India employees and a passenger were detained at the Delhi airport on Wednesday for their alleged involvement in human trafficking.

A CISF official in a statement on Thursday said that at 1:15 pm on Wednesday, the surveillance and intelligence staff of CISF at Indira Gandhi International Airport noticed suspicious activities of a passenger who was sitting in check-in area near departure gate number 5. The passenger identified as Diljot Singh, an Indian resident, was supposed to travel from Delhi to Birmingham by Air India Flight AI113 set to depart at 1315 hrs.

On the basis of profiling, he was diverted to the random checking point for thorough checking of his baggage. Despite a thorough examination of his baggage yielding no suspicious items, Singh's failure to board the flight raised concerns. "Asked why he did not board the flight, the passenger did not reply satisfactorily," the CISF official said.

On the basis of strong suspicion, his earlier movements were tracked through CCTV footage. Following the electronic surveillance and statements from the passenger, it came to light that the passenger had approached at F-11 check-in counter for his checking formalities and after check-in he proceeded towards immigration, where he was stopped by immigration officials for possessing doubtful travelling documents and instructed him to bring concerned Airline staff along with him for clearing the doubts.

On further reviewing the CCTV footage, it came to notice that the passenger neither went to check-in counter nor came back to immigration counter, the CISF official said in the statement. "Later on enquiry, it was learned that his check-in formalities was done at crew counter F-11 by Air India staff Mr. Rohan Verma, CSA on the basis of wrong documents. It was learned that the said passenger was travelling on Seamen letter (authorized to work in ship only), but said Air India staff completed his check-in formalities manually, as BRP (Biometric Residence Permits, UK)," the statement added.

On questioning, Rohan Verma admitted that as directed by his colleague Mohammad Jahangir, a AISATS employee, he checked-in the said passenger along with two more passengers on the basis of forged documents, for which he took Rs 80,000. On questioning, Jahangir admitted that he asked his colleague to complete the check-in fromalities of the passengers on forged documents as he was offered Rs 40,000 per passenger by one Rakesh, a resident of Delhi's Mahipalpur area.

"The matter was brought to the notice of senior officers of CISF and AISATS, Senior Manager Vigilance. Later, two other AISATS staff Yash and Akshay Narang also admitted their involvement in the case. All the involved staff along with the passenger were handed over to Delhi Police for further legal action on the matter. Later, it was learned that FIR has been registered against all of them," the CISF official said.

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