Vistara's Dubai flight passengers "erroneously" taken to Mumbai airport domestic terminal
Mumbai: Some passengers of a Vistara flight from Dubai were taken to the domestic terminal of the Mumbai airport after landing without completing immigration process on Sunday, while the airline said operating procedures will be tightened to prevent such incidents in the future.
International passengers arriving at Indian airports are compulsorily required to undergo immigration process and the latest incident is an apparent security violation.
A Vistara spokesperson, in a statement, said few passengers were "erroneously" taken to the domestic arrivals instead of international arrivals and that these passengers were later taken to the designated terminal to complete the international arrival formalities.
"Few of our customers, arriving from Dubai to Mumbai on Vistara flight UK 202 on February 4, were erroneously taken to domestic arrivals instead of international arrivals," the spokesperson said.
There were no immediate comments from the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS).
The airline further said its teams "worked alongside security agencies" and relevant authorities to ensure that these passengers were taken to the designated area to complete their arrival formalities and conclude their journey.
"We are revisiting and further tightening our standard operating procedures to avoid any recurrence," Vistara added.
Earlier, a post on social media platform X stated, "Vistara airlines major goof up/ security breach. " "All pax arrived right now from dubai UK202 have been dropped off by bus to the domestic terminal gate bypassing all immigration/ customs & directly at luggage belt," the post on X stated.
Vistara airlines major goof up/ security breach
— IdiotsOnIndianRoads (@IdiotsRoads) February 4, 2024
All pax arrived right now from dubai UK202 have been dropped off by bus to the domestic terminal gate bypassing all immigration/ customs & directly at luggage belt
No staff here even knows how to deal with this. @DGCAIndia 🤷♂️ pic.twitter.com/Tdj0itBdHY
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Traffic fraud: Fake 'no-entry' sticker racket busted in Delhi, mastermind among 3 held
New Delhi (PTI): Police here have busted a crime syndicate involved in traffic fraud and extortion, arresting three people including the alleged mastermind who sold fake stickers to help commercial vehicles bypass no-entry restrictions, an official said on Saturday.
The police said they dismantled a third organised syndicate linked to traffic-related frauds, with the arrest of Rinku Rana alias Bhushan, his associate Sonu Sharma and Mukesh Kumar alias Pakodi, who was also connected to another extortion syndicate.
According to the police, Rinku Rana was running a well-organised network that facilitated the movement of commercial goods vehicles during restricted hours by selling fake 'marka' or stickers for Rs 2,000 to Rs 5,000 per vehicle every month. The stickers were falsely projected as authorisation to evade traffic challans.
During raids, the police recovered Rs 31 lakh in cash, property documents worth several crores of rupees, over 500 fake stickers and six mobile phones allegedly used to operate the syndicate.
The crackdown followed a complaint filed by a traffic police officer in April this year after a commercial vehicle tried to evade checking by producing a fake sticker claiming exemption from enforcement action.
Investigation revealed that social media groups were being used to coordinate the illegal movement of vehicles and alert drivers about traffic police checkpoints, police said.
"A parallel system was being run to cheat drivers and vehicle owners while undermining traffic enforcement. On the basis of evidence, provisions related to organised crime under the BNS were invoked," a senior police officer said.
Sonu Sharma, the police said, managed social media groups through which stickers were sold and real-time alerts were circulated regarding traffic police movement. He also acted as a link between Rana and drivers operating in the field.
In a related development, Mukesh Kumar alias Pakodi, an associate of Rajkumar alias Raju Meena, who was earlier arrested under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA), was also apprehended.
Mukesh allegedly helped extort money from transporters and was involved in blackmailing traffic police personnel by recording enforcement actions, the police said.
Investigators alleged the syndicate led by Rajkumar deployed drivers to deliberately violate traffic rules and secretly record police officials during challans, later using manipulated videos to extort money under threat of false allegations.
The police said that in total, eight accused belonging to three different organised crime syndicates linked to traffic frauds and extortion have been arrested so far.
Further investigation is underway to trace the remaining members, conduct financial probes, and analyse digital evidence recovered during the raids, officials added.
