3,000 kg of aircraft engine parts stolen from Delhi airport

Making a mockery of security at the Delhi airport, thieves have swiped 1,700 scrapped aircraft engine parts weighing about 3,000 kg and worth over Rs 10 lakh from the Air India's engine overhaul complex.

The theft of goods, mostly the engine parts and blades of Boeing aircraft, came to light in the second week of June when one of godowns was opened, a senior Air India official said.

It took two-months for the airline officials to report the theft, and an FIR was filed in the last week of September.

"As soon as the theft was reported we started an internal probe. But the officials could not find anything concrete and the persons responsible. So the matter was reported to police on September 23," the official said requesting anonymity.

The goods were received at the godown between December 2010 and March 2011 and no one checked the godown since then till it was opened in June.

Suspecting theft from other godowns, airline officials carried out inspections and found parts missing from there, too.

Police suspect that the theft on such a large scale could not have taken place without the help of an insider.