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Gold jewellery vanishes from traveller's bag
Couple finds box intact, but empty, after being told to check-in cabin baggage.
- PUBLISHED: Sat 3 Oct 2015, 12:00 AM UPDATED: Sat 3 Oct 2015, 4:25 PM
A Dubai-based Pakistani couple who flew home for summer vacations was shocked to discover that a gold jewellery set kept in their luggage had disappeared while its box was found intact.
Zulfiqar Ahmed, who works as a senior technician in an industrial company, and his wife Noureen told Khaleej Times that they lost 41.69 gram gold worth Dh5,595 from a trolley bag they were asked to check in on the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight they took to Islamabad.
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The couple and their four children flew to their hometown on August 8 on PIA flight number PK212. They had bought three gold sets among other valuables.
Ahmed said all the sets were kept in two trolley bags they were carrying as cabin baggage. However, at the gate he said, they were interrupted by a PIA crew member.
"He told us there was no space to keep the baggage in the cabin and we were asked to check-in our hand luggage though we were carrying only three pieces of light luggage."
Ahmed said he told the man that he cannot check-in the briefcases since they contained gold jewellery. "He said, you just believe in God, nothing will happen to your gold."
Noureen said she still didn't want to leave the gold in the checked-in luggage.
"I took out two boxes from one briefcase and another one from the second one. I was under the impression that I had already taken out all the jewellery sets. But, on checking them after getting on to the plane I realised that one box I took out was that of tablets. So, one set went in the trolley bag that was checked-in."
The set contained a necklace and a pair of ear drops. Noureen said she could not collect it since the aerobridge had closed and the flight was about to take off. "I heard one of the air hostesses telling her colleagues that our luggage had gold jewellery. I don't know why she was discussing it."
On reaching Islamabad, the couple collected all the bags. "I opened the trolley bag and found that the jewellery box and the clothes kept on top of them were still there. Two mobile phones in the bag were also there. So, I thought everything was fine," said Noureen.
However, when she reached home and opened the jewellery box, the gold set was missing. "I was shocked. I checked everywhere and didn't find it. The receipt of the set we bought on August 3 was in the box, but not the set," she claimed.
Ahmed said he suspects that somebody carefully removed the set and kept the box back in its place.
"I complained to PIA in Islamabad and later in Dubai, when we arrived here. They are passing the buck without conducting a proper investigation. My complaint to the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority officials also has not had any response."
When contacted, Syed Ishaq Hussain, PIA General Manager in Dubai said internationally, neither the airlines nor the airport or civil aviation authorities are in a position to entertain claims made after the passengers leave the airport.
"It is difficult for us to verify the genuineness of the claim once the passenger leaves the airport. The Passenger Information Report has to be filed before that."
He said passengers should have been more alert and kept their valuables in the hand bag and should have verified it soon after receiving the baggage.
However, he said he will still try to investigate the matter and see if the jewellery had gone missing before the passenger collected the baggage by checking the baggage screening footages in Dubai and Islamabad.
sajila@khaleejtimes.com
