Rs 6.5 lakh allegedly stolen from medical students' bags on flights from Mumbai to Russia, FIRs registered

Mumbai: US dollars equivalent to an amount of Rs 6.5 lakh were allegedly stolen from the bags of two Indian students pursuing their medical education in Russia.

These two students travelled to Russian cities on separate flights from Mumbai on August 26 and 27. Families of the students said that the cash, which was allegedly stolen, was arranged through savings and loans and was meant for college fees and annual expenses. 

Taking action on the issue, Sahar police have registered two FIRs in this connection against unidentified persons on August 31.

According to police, these were the first theft cases involving international flights, and police have sought CCTV footage and details of airline ground staff at Mumbai airport.

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As per the latest media report by the Times of India, one of these students hails from Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, and she reported that $2,000, equivalent to around Rs 1.96 lakh, was missing from her cabin bag after she reached Cairo on an EgyptAir flight to Moscow. Explaining what happened on the flight, the student's mother, a schoolteacher, said that the airline staff had asked her daughter to place her purse in the cabin bag. Since cabin storage space was unavailable, she later handed her purse to a crew member.

After reaching Cairo airport, she found that the lock was broken and the currency was missing. The student's mother alleged that the airline staff was involved in the matter, and she also added that the airline had declined responsibility or reimbursement. She added that she had saved the money from her salary and had to borrow Rs 2 lakh from a friend to pay her daughter's fourth-year MBBS fees and expenses.

The second case involved a 19-year-old student from Ratnagiri, who alleged that $4,625, equivalent to around Rs 4.5 lakh, was stolen while she was travelling to Adler on an Etihad Airways flight. Even though her flight was scheduled to travel via Abu Dhabi, it was diverted to Istanbul.

After reaching Adler on August 27, the medico received her cabin and luggage bags on Aug 28. However, she found 46 $100 notes, one $20 note and one $5 note missing. Her father, also a schoolteacher, told TOI that he had arranged the money through loans and savings for her medical college fees and annual expenses in Russia.

Commenting on the matter, a senior police officer told TOI that baggage theft inspections face logistical blind spots such as cargo loading and transit areas where there is no direct camera surveillance. Further, since outsourced loaders and third-party ground staff are also involved in the process, it makes identifying suspects difficult. Police suspect that baggage scanning or handling staff may alert the thieves about bags containing cash or gold.

Speaking to TOI, a Sahar police officer said that they have sought the CCTV footage from both airlines at Mumbai airport when the bags of those students were scanned before being loaded into flight cargo sections. The officer added, "Details of the ground staffs are sought to question to find involvement of them in the thefts."

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