New Delhi: Days after a traveler at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport claimed that his Apple watch was stolen by Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel—only to later delete the post and disable his X account—the Delhi Police Tuesday filed a Non-Cognizable Report (NCR) against him, ThePrint has learnt.
The CISF had first responded to Tushar Mehta’s allegations of watch theft on X before filing a complaint against him at the IGI Airport Police station. “We have filed a Non-Cognizable Report against Mehta based on the CISF’s complaint,” a Delhi Police official said, requesting anonymity.
An NCR is filed for non-cognizable offenses, where investigating officers cannot arrest without a warrant.
Regarding Mehta’s allegations, CISF officials said they were a “blatant lie”, stating that CCTV footage from the security check-in contradicted his claims.
“The allegations made by the traveller against our CISF personnel were a blatant lie. He was seen taking his watch first among his belongings in the CCTV footage analysed in the wake of his allegations made on social media,” a CISF official told ThePrint.
In his now-disabled X account, Mehta identified himself as an orthopedic surgeon based in Gurugram, Haryana. He claimed that after clearing security at Terminal 3 of IGI Airport, he could not find his watch in the tray where he had placed it before the screening.
“Something strange & shocking happened today. I was at @Delhi Airport T3 a while ago at the security. I had put my Apple Watch in the tray for security check. The moment I crossed security, I started putting things back into my laptop bag. I could feel that something is missing & I realised I don’t have my watch. I asked the CISF guy standing there. He asked me to look again in my bag, pocket etc which I had already done,” Mehta had written in his X post on 25 January.
“I turned around curiously & saw someone looking back at me while walking away. I didn’t care about what CISF guy was about to do or say & started walking for that guy. Few steps ahead I saw him standing at the @titanwatches Helios store on the left. I confronted him & forcibly put my hand over his trouser pocket and I could feel the watch,” he alleged.
A day after his tweet went viral, the CISF Airport Sector responded to Mehta’s allegations on X. Shortly after, he retracted his statement and disabled his Twitter account.
“It is to bring to your notice that CISF Airport Sector reviewed the matter in the light of CCTV footage and found that the sequence of events narrated by the passenger had never happened. Accordingly, a reply to the original tweet was posted mentioning the CCTV details, after which the person has deleted the post and also deactivated his account,” a spokesperson of the force said in a statement Sunday.
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