48-yr-old man impersonating as Lufthansa pilot nabbed at IGIA

New Delhi: A 48-year-old man was nabbed at IGI airport on Tuesday for impersonating as a pilot of Lufthansa airlines. Police said that the accused wanted to gain easy access during the security clearance and have preferential treatment from the security agencies and airlines. Sources said that by using this modus operandi the accused had travelled 15 times to various parts of the country.

According to CISF, on November 18, one Aditya Singh Pathania, Chief Security Officer (CSO) of Lufthansa Airlines informed CISF officer at Terminal-3 about a suspected passenger in the getup of Flight Captain of Lufthansa Airlines. "The man, who lives in Vasant Kunj area of the national capital, was in possession of a fake ID card of Lufthansa Airlines captain, and he used it to get privilege at airports," a senior Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) officer said.

He was caught when he was just about to board an AirAsia flight to Kolkata, another official said.

Later he was handed over to Delhi Police for further investigation.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (IGI) Sanjay Bhatia said that the accused was a frequent traveller and just to escape from the long queues, he used to wear the uniform of a pilot so that he could not be interrupted and got easy passage to the aircraft without going through a long process of screening.

"He also used to seek preferential treatment from the concerned airlines posing to be a pilot. Sometimes he managed to get his seat upgraded," Deputy Commissioner of Police (IGIA) said. Further, it was also revealed that the passenger was actually fond of wearing the uniform of different professions and getting himself snapped in different poses and uniforms.

There are pictures of him posing as Colonel of Army in his phone. It also revealed that the passenger had shot videos wearing different uniforms on TIKTOK. From further course of the investigation, it also revealed that the passenger had travelled on different occasions using the same modus operandi.

The accused graduated from Punjab University, Chandigarh in 1991. After graduation, he initially worked for various private companies at different levels and later

floated his own training and consultancy company and also trained and consulted for corporates.

A criminal case was registered against the accused."

The travel history of the passenger is being scanned. In-depth verification of the accused is also being done," said DCP Bhatia.