Man from Varanasi held for abducting DGCA employee: Police

New Delhi, Jan 15: A 24-year-old man and a taxi driver were arrested for allegedly abducting an employee of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and stealing his mobile phone, police here said on Friday.

The accused were identified as Vaibhav Chaturvedi and Kawar Singh (37), the cab driver, they added.

Chaturvedi came to Delhi from Varanasi on January 7, the police said, adding that as his plane was about to land in the national capital, he wanted to go to the washroom but was not allowed by the flight staff, which led to an argument between the two sides.

The next day, Chaturvedi, along with the taxi driver, went to the DGCA office to lodge a complaint about the incident. He claimed that he saw three-four persons in an inebriated state at the DGCA office and got angry, the police said.

Chaturvedi then posed as a senior official and took Surender Singh, a junior secretariat attendant at the DGCA office, to the Safdarjung Hospital forcibly in the taxi to conduct his medical examination, according to the police.

The medical examination could not be conducted but Chaturvedi took away the DGCA employee''s mobile phone and identity card. He also took away the mobile phone of one of Singh''s colleagues at the hospital, a senior police officer said.

The accused subsequently dropped the DGCA employees near the Kotla traffic signal on BP Marg but did not return their phones. Instead, he gave his mobile phone number to them and fled the spot, the officer said.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (South) Atul Kumar Thakur said during the investigation, CCTV footage was obtained from the DGCA office and the Safdarjung Hospital and a detailed enquiry was carried out. Chaturvedi was found to be living in Rohini. He was apprehended from his house and at his instance, the taxi driver was also arrested.

Two mobile phones and a DGCA identity card were recovered from the possession of the accused, the officer said.

Chaturvedi is a native of Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh. He did his graduation in business administration and law and had worked as a contractor for road construction in Varanasi but was currently unemployed, the police said.

Chaturvedi knew the taxi driver for the last six months, they said, adding that he hired his vehicle on several occasions. The taxi driver told the police that he followed the instructions of the accused as he thought that the latter was a senior officer.