Manipal Group director loses Rs 1 lakh, 78-year-old pen at Mumbai airport: report

Binod Kumar Mandal had kept the money and the pen in his check-in bag assuming it to be safe. (Representational Image).

A Manipal Group director lost Rs 1 lakh and a 78-year-old pen worth Rs 5,000 on arrival at Mumbai airport on Wednesday, a Times of India report said.

Binod Kumar Mandal, 46, who is a director at Manipal Tech Group Companies, was travelling from Mangaluru to Mumbai on a two-day official trip and landed in the city on Wednesday.

He had kept the money and the pen in his check-in bag assuming it to be safe and believing it to be a better option than carrying them with him as he felt there could be a greater possibility of him losing the valuables in a new city.

On reaching Mumbai, Mandal had found that his bag's number lock and zip had been tampered with and despite taking flights frequently to different locations, Mandal had encountered the first baggage theft of his life.

"It is a handin-glove act by people inside the airport, otherwise the theft would not have occurred. I suspect that the person who does the baggage scanning would have tipped off the loader who would have stolen the cash at a place where there is no CCTV coverage."

"I am from Kolkata but have been working in Mangaluru with Manipal Tech Group Companies. In my case, I had the proof of money that I had withdrawn from the bank that I carried with me," he said.

"The fountain pen, valued at Rs 5,000, was a family heirloom...a gift from my grandfather who had bought it in 1946," Mandal added.

Mandal approached the airport police for help, but had to wait for five hours to file a complaint.