Lost from memory, omitted from documents, Air India finally sells an old Boeing 737-200 plane
Mumbai (PTI): Lost from memory, omitted from many documents and over three years after the privatisation of Air India, a more than four-decade-old Boeing 737-200 aircraft of the airline was finally sold last week.
The cargo aircraft, grounded since 2012, later decommissioned and meant for the use of India Post, was all these years at a remote parking bay at the Kolkata airport till the Tata Group-owned Air India was asked to remove the plane.
On Friday, Air India CEO and MD Campbell Wilson told employees that the airline did not even know it owned such an aircraft until recently.
Last week, the airline completed the sale and transfer of a B737-200 aircraft (VT-EHH), which had been grounded since 2012. "Though disposal of an old aircraft is not unusual, this one is - for it's an aircraft that we didn't even know we owned until recently!" he said in a message to the staff.
Many years before privatisation, Wilson said this aircraft had been decommissioned in order to operate for India Post and was omitted from many documents.
"Over time, it was lost from memory and only came to light when our friends at Kolkata Airport informed us of its presence in a (very) remote parking bay and asked us to remove it! After verifying that it was indeed ours, we've now done so - and in so doing removed another old cobweb from our closet!" he added.
Information available on the aircraft tracking website planespotters.net showed that VT-EHH is more than 43.2 years old and was delivered to Indian Airlines in September 1982. The plane was leased by Alliance Air in February 1998 and returned to Indian Airlines as a freighter in July 2007.
Then, in August 2007, the aircraft came to Air India.
Under government ownership, Indian Airlines was merged with Air India in 2007, and Air India was acquired by the Tata Group in January 2022.
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Bengaluru: Four arrested for housebreaking, threats, extortion; fake PSI among accused
Bengaluru: Vidyaranyapura police have arrested four persons, including a man posing as a Police Sub-Inspector (PSI), for allegedly breaking into a house, threatening the occupants, and extorting money while wearing police uniforms.
The arrested accused have been identified as Mallikarjuna, Pramod, Vinay, and Hrithik.
Police said the accused had hatched a plan to pose as police personnel, conduct fake raids, and extort money from residents by intimidation.
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According to the police, Mallikarjuna had failed the PSI examination twice and later falsely projected himself as a PSI. He allegedly conducted photo shoots in his hometown, Siraguppa, wearing a police uniform, baton, cap, and shoes, claiming to be serving as a PSI in Bengaluru.
On December 7, the four accused allegedly went to the house of Naveen in the Vidyaranyapura limits, threatened him with a stick and an iron rod, and claimed they had information that he was selling ganja. Under the pretext of searching, they allegedly extorted ₹87,000 through bank transfer, ₹53,000 in cash kept in the house, and ₹2,000 from his wallet.
Following Naveen’s complaint, Vidyaranyapura police registered a case and launched an operation, leading to the arrest of all four accused. Police have seized ₹45,000 in cash and the car used to commit the crime.
Further investigation is underway.
