Ground staff employee steals two iPhones from a passenger at Bengaluru airport, act caught on CCTV

By Divyanshi SharmaWe’ve often seen cases of negligence by the airport staff when it comes to passengers’ luggage. There have been many news reports in which the luggage was either lost, destroyed, or even stolen. However, rarely have we seen someone getting their iPhones stolen from their check-in bag at the airport. This is exactly what happened with a man, who was travelling from Bengaluru to Chandigarh in Vistara airlines. Even though the incident took place in April, a police complaint on the matter was filed on May 31.

Passenger’s iPhones stolen at airport

According to a TimesNow report, an employee of a private ground handling company was caught on camera when he stole two iPhones from a passenger’s check-in bag. The passenger was not allowed to take the bag with him earlier as it had a power bank which is prohibited to be carried in a check-in bag. The thief allegedly stole the phones on April 29.

The report says that the name of the passenger is Hemanth Kumar, and he was travelling from Bengaluru to Chandigarh on April 28 via Vistara airlines. Kumar’s bag was opened by the ground handling staff at the airport, and they found power banks, which are not allowed in the check-in baggage. All electronic items should ideally be in your hand baggage and the process for getting them through security check is different.

Circling back to the incident, after the power banks were found in the bag, it was help up at the airport. A day later, the bag was sent to the destination airport by the airline. However, when the passenger received his bag at the Chandigarh airport, he found out that two of his iPhones were missing from the bag. He immediately informed the airline and they checked the CCTV footage. In the footage, the accused can be seen taking the iPhones.

The accused in the case is Shubham Mishra, a 27-year-old employee of the ground-handling service provider AISATS Ltd. He confessed to stealing the phones and later selling them. The passenger was compensated by the airline for the value of the stolen phones. As for Mishra, his employment has been terminated by the airline, and he has gone back to his hometown, the TimesNow report says.

A case of theft by a servant has been booked by the police in the matter and investigation is underway. A TOI report says that Mishra had been employed by the company for less than a year.