Two Delhi Police head constables were arrested on Sunday for allegedly threatening and extorting gold from two passengers at Indira Gandhi International Airport Terminal 3, police said.
The accused – Robin Singh and Gaurav Kumar – were posted as security personnel at the IGI Airport Terminal 3. Following their involvement in the alleged incident, both policemen have been suspended from their duties, they said.
Passengers coming from Dubai, gold worth Rs 50 lakh
Police said the accused policemen threatened two passengers who had come from Dubai and took their gold. The gold ornaments recovered from the accused were worth Rs 50.6 lakh.
According to the FIR, Salaudeen Kathat, 24, had left India in 2020 to work at a construction company in Qatar. But his employers refused to pay him salary, and he was forced to return home. Thereafter, he went to Muscat in search of work but again decided to leave over the work conditions.
In Muscat, he met a man who gave him gold weighing around 600 gms and asked him to deliver it in Delhi in exchange for money. On December 20, when Kathat arrived at the IGI airport, the two policemen stopped him near the forecourt area.
"They stopped my taxi and forced me to sit in their Gypsy. I was taken to a police station where they asked me about the gold. They then took me to a forest area where they beat me up and threatened me. I was scared and gave them the gold. They broke my SIM and put my phone on reset mode. They gave me some cash and booked a cab for me. They threatened me to not tell anyone about the incident," Kathat alleged in his complaint.
On the same day, another passenger, Shaikh Kadar Bashi, who had also come from Dubai, too became a victim of the same two policemen. They extorted 400 gms of gold from him. "They stopped and searched me. They took all my gold," claimed Bashi, a businessman.
FIR lodged, officers suspended
Police clubbed the two complaints and lodged an FIR of extortion and mischief. After the accused were identified by the complainants, they were arrested on Sunday following an enquiry.
A senior police officer said that the policemen had been posted at the IGI Airport for some time. "As per our information, They targeted passengers who would sneak gold items at the airport. We have arrested them and put them under suspension," he said.
(With inputs from PTI)
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