Unclaimed items worth Rs 150 crore at airports in 5 years

NEW DELHI: Central Industrial Security Force has recovered unattended items from various airports in the country worth over Rs 150 crore in the past five years. At Delhi’s IGI airport alone, unattended items worth over Rs 5.5 crore were recovered in 2016, out of which items worth Rs 1.78 crore were returned to the passengers, while the rest had to be submitted to the airport operator.
According to a data, the value of items recovered from the airports has doubled in past five years. In 2012, valuables worth Rs 20.04 lakh were recovered, the value rose to Rs 44.01 crore in 2016.
“We recover bags left unattended at the departure terminals as passengers often forget them. Whenever spotted, these items are first frisked for any possible threat and once declared safe, are opened under supervision of concerned authorities. Valuables found are returned after proper verification to people who approach the force or airport authorities claiming it, otherwise the items are submitted with the airport operator to the lost and found stock,” said a senior CISF officer.
“The items include jewellery, laptops, cameras, mobile phones, bags, electrical items, high-end gadgets and many other things. In the past five years there has been a significant rise in the recovery of such items. Our effort is to locate the owners and return as many valuables as we can. Robust electronic surveillance system is also a reason that helps us locate the owners and get hold of them,” the officer added.