Hyderabad: A man who was stealing gold and other expensive items from women passengers in flights was arrested by the RGI Airport police on Saturday. The police had seized around one kilogram of gold at his instance.
The man Rakesh Kapoor, a native of Delhi, travelled in local domestic flights between Hyderabad – Delhi, Bengaluru, Mumbai and other cities frequently. Rakesh identified women passengers in the flight and kept the shoulder bag he carried with him close to the handbags of the women travelers.
“During the journey, whenever the victim women went to the washroom, Rakesh would open their bags and quickly take the costly items including jewelry and keep them in his bag. He would later later sell the items to brokers,” said DCP Shamshabad, K Narayana Reddy.
The police who were receiving complaints of thefts in the flights were keeping a watch on the passengers. On a specific tip off, the police checked the footage of the surveillance cameras installed in the RGI Airport and identified Rakesh Kapoor. He was taken into custody and on interrogation he spilled the beans.
Rakesh is supported by his accomplice Dinesh, who also funded his travel. The booty Rakesh got through his activities was shared between them. “So far Rakesh had travelled in 200 flights in nearly 100 days and in almost all flights was successful in committing thefts. At least a dozen cases are registered against him in Cyberabad and Rachakonda,” the official maintained.
In many of the cases the women noticed the ornaments were stolen only after they reached their destinations and lodged complaints at the local police stations there.
The police are making efforts to nab Dinesh who is presently absconding.