14 May,2015 03:00 PM IST | | Neha LM Tripathi
Passenger flying to Bangkok misplaces wallet in airport’s smoking zone; CCTV footage shows staffer at artefact shop removing the money, after which he hands over the wallet to the officials
Dollar
Amit Manani, an Indian passenger travelling to Bangkok, lost his wallet (with $1,500 in it) at Mumbai International Airport's Terminal 2 on Tuesday evening, but managed to get it back after CCTV footage identified the culprit.
Pic for Representation /Thinkstock
It now transpires that an employee with an artefact shop at the airport, Amit Oganiya, had returned the wallet to the help desk, but only after appropriating the $1,500 that was in it.
At about 11.30 pm on Tuesday, Manani was scheduled to travel to Bangkok via Jet Airways 9W 062. This flight departs Mumbai at 1.05 am and lands in Bangkok by 6.55 am.
After checking in, Manani decided to go for a cigarette break in the smoking zone of the terminal, which is near
the area which houses retail outlets. That's where he misplaced his wallet with the greenbacks.
Manani made a complaint later that his wallet was missing from the smoking zone. CCTV footage revealed Amit Oganiya removing the money from the wallet. Oganiya then deposited the wallet with the help desk.
When the purse was shown to the passenger, he recognised it as his own but complained that $1,500 was missing.
During interrogation, the staffer accepted that he had taken the currency, which was then handed over to the passenger.
"This staffer had kept the money with him and deposited the purse with the management, but through the help of CCTV, it
was found out that Oganiya had stolen it," said an airport official.
Since Manani did not file an FIR, citing his busy schedule, no police complaint has been filed against Oganiya, but airport sources confirmed that the errant employee has been blacklisted.
