Man poses as Singapore Airlines pilot, forges ID; nabbed at Delhi airport

MUCH LIKE the character of ‘ con artist’ Frank Abagnale Jr from Hollywood hit Catch Me If You Can, whose many impersonations included posing as a pilot, 24- yearold Sangeet Singh too decided to allegedly pull off a similar con. “Donning” the uniform of a Singapore Airlines pilot, Singh wandered about Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport till he landed on the radar of airport police. His jig was up as police found out that he was a fake pilot and had allegedly forged the airlines’ ID.

Police arrested Singh, a resident of Gautam Buddha Nagar.

According to officers, Singh was spotted around the Metro skywalk area — that connects airport terminals 2 and 3 — in a pilot’s uniform a few times. “CISF personnel questioned him after he was spotted two to three times in the same area,” said DCP ( IGI Airport) Usha Rangnani.

Singh showed the CISF personnel his Singapore Airlines identity card, showing he worked for the in- flight operations. The personnel, however, soon realised it was forged and nabbed him.

During questioning, Singh allegedly told the IGIA police that he lied to his family and friends about his job — which he had claimed to have bagged after completing a one- year course in Aviation Hospitality in 2020. Police also said Singh claimed to have forged the ID card on an app, ‘ Business Card Maker’, and bought the pilot uniform and accessories from a store in Dwarka.

An FIR has been registered against Singh under IPC sections 420 ( cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property), 468 ( forgery) and 471 ( using as genuine a forged document or electronic record), said police.

24- year- old Sangeet Singh