Pay Rs 4000 and skip quarantine racket busted at Mumbai airport

By Asianet Newsable English | First Published Jan 17, 2021, 9:47 AM IST

The Mumbai Police has arrested a sub-engineer and two of his aides for allegedly collecting Rs 4000 from passengers arriving at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport for evading mandatory institutional quarantine.

The police nabbed 35-year-old Dinesh Gawande and recovered Rs 1.4 lakh cash, 200 Saudi riyals, a fake rubber stamp of home quarantine and letterheads with signatures of doctors from some top private hospitals from his bag.

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Two of his accomplices -- Ashraf Sarang and Vivek Singh -- were employed at the airport's duty-free shop.

The Modus Operandi

Gawande had been posted at the airport on December 23 by civic body Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation to check flyers from Dubai, Kuwait and US at P6 on Friday.

When interrogated by the police, some passengers admitted to paying Gawande Rs 4000.

They claimed that Gawande and his aides provided them with fake medical certificates that would ensure that they skip the mandatory institutional quarantine process.

How the racket was busted

According to the police, one of the housekeeping staff became suspicious when she allegedly saw him entering the toilet and pushed her on his way out with a bag.

Media reports said she informed the CISF and MIAL officials of her suspicions, following which Gawande and his aides were caught.

All three have been arrested under sections of the IPC for violating orders, cheating, forgery and under the Pandemic and Disaster Act. A police officer said they have been sent to police custody till January 19.

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