Delhi Police creates fake Instagram handle to honey trap criminal evading arrest for a decade
New Delhi, Jun 13: A criminal who had evaded arrest for over a decade fell for a honey trap laid by Delhi Police in which a male constable posed as a woman on a social media platform, officials said on Thursday.
The constable created a fake Instagram handle to lure 45-year-old Bunty, accused in 20 cases of snatching theft, possession of illegal arms and bootlegging at different police stations in Delhi, they said.
"The accused was declared as a proclaimed offender (PO) by city court in June 26, 2013 in a case registered against him in Tilak Nagar Police Station," Deputy Commissioner of Police (north) Manoj Kumar Meena said.
Even after several attempts by the team, he remained at large, the DCP said terming him a hardcore criminal.
The team received a tip-off this year that Bunty was hiding in Indira Vikas Colony, he said.
When the team visited the location, they found out that Bunty was using an Instagram account, the DCP said.
"Later, the team laid many traps and efforts were made to trace the accused, but the offender remained at large. Subsequently, the team member, a head-constable Omparkash Dagar came up with an innovative idea," said the DCP.
The constable created a fake Instagram handle with a girl's name, Meena said.
"Dagar started chatting with Bunty and he was eager to befriend the 'fake girl'," said the DCP.
Later, Bunty agreed to meet the constable posing as a girl at Punjabi Bagh Metro Station.
"On June 7, the meeting was fixed. The team was ready and laid a strategic trap with the help of technical surveillance. As the accused reached the spot, he was successfully apprehended from Punjabi Bagh Metro Station," the police officer said.
The DCP said Bunty kept changing his address and phone numbers regularly to evade arrest.
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AI, IndiGo, SpiceJet seek ATF price relief; say airline industry on verge of 'stopping operations'
Mumbai (PTI): Air India, IndiGo and SpiceJet have told the government that the country's airline industry is under extreme stress and on the verge of "stopping operations", as they sought revision in ATF pricing and financial support.
The West Asia turmoil has pushed up oil prices, and airspace restrictions have increased airlines' operating costs, especially on long-haul routes. Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) accounts for around 40 per cent of a carrier's operational expenses.
Against this backdrop, the Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA) has written to the civil aviation ministry, seeking steps to extend the same fuel pricing mechanism uniformly across both domestic and international operations as was done in the past with the establishment of the crack band.
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With an unprecedented rise in jet fuel prices and exorbitant crack/differential between crude and ATF, the federation said the operation of airlines is being challenged in totality.
"... any ad hoc pricing (domestic vs international) and/or irrational increase in the price of ATF will result in unsurmountable losses for airlines and will lead to grounding of aircraft, resulting in cancellation of flights," the federation, which represents Air India, IndiGo and SpiceJet, said.
"In order to survive, sustain and continue operation, we request your urgent intervention for immediate and meaningful financial support to tide over the current situation," it said in a letter on April 26.
Also, the airlines have sought temporary deferment of excise duty on ATF, which is at 11 per cent.
"With the abnormal increase in ATF prices from the pre-crisis period, adding rupee depreciation to the increased prices, the 11 per cent excise duty also increases manifold for the airlines and adds to the ATF price as a big impact on airlines," they said.
Last month, the government limited the hike in ATF price to Rs 15 per litre for domestic operations, but for international operations, the price rose by Rs 73 per litre.
The airlines said the situation has practically made international operations, along with domestic operations, completely unviable and resulted in significant losses for the aviation sector in April.
Seeking urgent intervention on the current ATF ad hoc pricing, FIA said the current situation is creating a severe imbalance in domestic and international operations and rendering airline networks unviable and unsustainable.
"The airline industry in India is under extreme stress and is on the verge of closing down or of stopping its operations."
The federation has pitched for a transparent pricing framework under the crack band mechanism (USD 12–22/BBL) that was implemented in October 2022, saying there was a fair and reasonable margin for Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs).
According to FIA, the country's largest aviation hub Delhi has the second-highest value-added tax (VAT) of 25 per cent on jet fuel, while the highest rate is 29 per cent levied in Tamil Nadu.
"The other major aviation cities, viz. Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, and Kolkata range between 16 per cent and 20 per cent. These 6 cities cover more than 50 per cent of airlines' operations within India," the federation said.
