Couple claims jewellery worth Rs 30 lakh stolen from check-in bag at Delhi airport

New Delhi: A Bengaluru-based married couple has filed a police complaint alleging that their jewellery valued at about Rs 30 lakh and Rs 30,000 in cash was stolen from their check-in baggage at the Delhi international airport.

The alleged incident took place early morning of April 26 at Terminal-1 of the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport. The couple claimed that they found the valuables missing when they checked their bag in Bengaluru.

"About 29-30 tolas of jewellery worth Rs 30 lakh was stolen from our check-in baggage," the complainant Bhagirath Singh Rajpurohit told PTI.

An FIR in the matter has been filed at the Delhi Police station located at the airport, he said.

Rajpurohit, a banker, said he and his wife had gone to attend a wedding in their home state of Rajasthan on April 14 and were returning to Bengaluru via Delhi.

"The jewellery was in a steel box placed in a trolley suitcase. A total of Rs 30,000 in cash was also there in three pouches in the same bag. But after we landed in Bengaluru and reached home we found all these valuables were not there," Rajpurohit said.

A police officer said they are checking CCTV footage from the airport.

"Multiple teams have been formed to investigate the matter," the officer said.

According to the complaint, the couple claimed that the trolley bag, which had a number lock and a small physical lock on the zip chain, had a cut mark inside a fold.

Both the number lock and the physical lock were intact, Rajpurohit said.

Among the ornaments were gold earrings, bangles, anklets and an armlet, the couple claimed. A bank passbook and an Aadhaar card were also missing.

Rajpurohit said he suspects it to be the handiwork of the staff.

The luggage was checked-in with the airline at about 7.20 am on April 26 and the flight departed at 11.30 am. It landed in Bengaluru around 2 pm, he said.

"This was all the gold my wife had. These were made at her ancestral place. We request police and airport authorities to catch the culprits soon and help us in getting our valuables back," he said.

Rajpurohit said they have also informed the police that a gold chain belonging to his father, who took a different flight to Dibrugarh from Delhi the same day but half-an-hour after their flight, was also stolen in a similar fashion.