Air cargo worker arrested for stealing haute couture

Couriered packages go missing all the time. But when Anupama Verma, sibling of celebrated couturier Rohit Verma, learnt that the elegant attire she had dispatched to her daughter in Gurgaon never made it, she decided not to take it lying down.

Rohit Verma

On September 7, Anupama had paid Maruti Courier Company to deliver the parcel containing the dresses she had purchased at a fashion event in Hong Kong and a pair of shoes. The firm assured her that the package would reach Gurgaon in a week. Anupama wanted her daughter to put on the attire on Ganesh Chaturthi, but the parcel never reached her.

A happy ending: Some of the items of the courier Anupama Verma had sent for her daughter in Gurgaon via Maruti Courier Company on September;

The courier company owner, Velji Bhai, informed Anupama that the package had been sent by his office after completing due procedures, and if it had not made it to the intended destination then something must have gone wrong at the air cargo.

Velji later approached the air cargo unit at the airport and after failing to get satisfactory replies he immediately informed top officials of the concerned department, following which one of the loaders was arrested by Vile Parle police. A hunt is on for two other associates of the accused.

"I was emotionally attached to that parcel. My 15-year-old daughter wanted to wear those dresses. I did not want money in return. This happened because of negligence on part of the courier company and air cargo," said Anupama.

Courier Company owner, Velji Bhai said that, on my complaint Air Cargo officials had filed the complaint and one loader has been arrested on Wednesday while two others are absconding.

Sources from Vile Parle Police station revealed that contents of several other parcels were also recovered from the home of the arrested accused, but Anupama's package could not be recovered. "The accused along with other colleagues had stolen many parcels from airport cargo. We are carrying out investigations in this regard," a police official said.u00a0