Delhi man arrested for stealing valuables takes 200 flights in a year
PTC News Desk: According to Delhi Police, on Monday, a 40-year-old man was taken into custody for allegedly stealing jewelry and other valuables from fellow passengers’ handbags on different flights.
According to the police, Rajesh Kapoor, the accused, took at least 200 flights and travelled for more than 110 days in order to perpetrate thefts in the previous year. Deputy Commissioner of Police (IGI) Usha Rangnani announced during a press conference at the IGI airport that Kapoor had been taken into custody from Paharganj, where it was purported he had been storing the stolen jewelry.
She claimed that he intended to sell them to Sharad Jain, a 46-year-old Karol Bagh resident who has also been arrested.
According to Rangnani, two distinct theft incidences on two different planes were recorded in the last three months, and an IGI Airport squad was constituted specifically to find the offenders.
On April 11, a traveller from Hyderabad to Delhi misplaced jewels valued at Rs 7 lakh. On February 2, there was another theft recorded; this time, a passenger traveling from Amritsar to Delhi reported losing jewellery items valued at Rs 20 lakh.
According to Rangnani, aircraft manifests and CCTV video from the airports in Delhi and Amritsar were examined over the course of the investigations. She stated that because he was observed on both of the flights when theft occurrences were reported, a suspect was identified.
The officer claimed that although the suspected passenger had given a false phone number when making the reservation, the phone number had been retrieved from the relevant airlines. Following technological monitoring, Kapoor’s first phone number was located, leading to his capture.
He admitted to being engaged in five of these cases, including one in Hyderabad, after being questioned for a long time, according to the police. Even crimes involving theft, gambling, and criminal breach of trust were linked to Kapoor, five of which implicated airports.
According to a different police officer, Kapoor would specifically target elderly women traveling abroad and other vulnerable travellers. “Recognising the tendency of such passengers to carry valuables in their handbags, he strategically travelled on premium domestic flights, notably Air India and Vistara, bound for destinations like Delhi, Chandigarh, and Hyderabad,” stated the officer.
The officer claimed that while people were settling into their seats, he would surreptitiously search through overhead cabins, meticulously evaluating and taking valuables from gullible victims’ handbags.
He even requested a seat adjustment from the airline on multiple occasions so that he could be closer to the target after it had become fully focused. He was able to stay undercover thanks to his strategy, which was expertly planned to coincide with the inevitable diversions throughout the boarding procedure.
In order to further avoid being discovered, Kapoor used a cunning strategy to hide his identity from law officials and airlines: he purchased tickets in the name of his late brother.