MUMBAI: A $25,000 (over Rs 23.6 lakh) cash theft from the checked-in baggage of two Thane homemakers is the biggest of 16 baggage theft cases registered at Sahar police station between Jan and Aug this year. None of the cases has been solved.The latest FIR was registered on Sept 3 after the two family friends, aged 40 and 46, alleged that their cash was stolen during their Aug 26 Mumbai-Dubai journey. They had boarded a SpiceJet flight from Mumbai and discovered after landing in Dubai that one bag had been broken open and the cash was missing.The women spent four days in their hotel room without money before returning to Mumbai on Sunday. The 40-year-old woman has urged police to examine the attendance records of loaders assigned to their flight between 11am and 2pm on Aug 26.She suspects that someone who saw the cash during X-ray screening may have alerted a loader. According to her, police said hundreds of loaders were on duty and CCTV cameras did not cover some stretches between the conveyor belt and the aircraft cargo hold. The women were also told they should not have carried cash in checked-in baggage.The family had taken a loan and carried its savings to Dubai to shop for a wedding scheduled in Dec and meet travel expenses. “I will pursue the matter until the money is recovered,” she said.The second-biggest case was registered on April 24 after Borivli resident Vandana Bhise (48), a senior executive at a private firm, reported losing six gold-studded rings worth Rs 15 lakh while returning from Chicago to Mumbai.In two cases on Aug 26 and 27, MBBS students from Ratnagiri and Sambhaji Nagar reported losses of Rs 4.5 lakh and Rs 2 lakh respectively after finding their bag locks broken on arrival in Moscow. They had travelled from Mumbai on Egypt Air and Etihad flights.Other complainants included seamen, a businesswoman and a senior executive who reported losing gold ornaments, mobile phones, cash or entire bags.DCP (West Zone-1) Nimit Goyal said he would verify the case details before commenting.Former Mumbai police commissioner D Sivanandhan said local police should develop an informer network inside the airport instead of relying on CCTV footage. He said crime branch should investigate the cases, alleging that thieves could exploit CCTV blind spots and be alerted after valuables were spotted during X-ray screening.
