Why this NRI was stuck at IGI for 3 days

NEW DELHI: A Bahrain-bound NRI was stranded at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International airport for three days after the handbag, which contained his passport, was taken away by a passenger to Canada in a mix-up.

The passenger eventually departed for his destination on Monday evening after camping at the airport for three days. The fare difference was, however, waived off by the airline company.

The passenger, Satyendra Singh, was in transit to Bahrain after arriving from Lucknow, when he reportedly misplaced his bag. Singh said the bag, which he had kept on the scanner while checking, could not be found later on. After security personnel analysed the CCTV footage, it was revealed that the bag had been taken by a passenger on an Air Canada flight, which was headed for Canada.

"There was a long queue and a lot of rush. By the time I went to check my bag, it was nowhere to be seen. Footage later revealed that some other passenger had taken my bag," said Singh.

An Air India official confirmed the incident and said that the passenger was shifted to the lounge at the airport after he complained that his passport had gone missing. "He was shifted to the lounge six hours after the incident. His hand baggage had been exchanged with another passenger, who had flown to Canada. The baggage was finally returned to him on Monday evening. With his passport, Singh was able to depart for his destination," the official added. "The differential fee of the passenger was waived off by the airlines."

Singh had come to India to meet his parents in Lucknow. He was, however, not allowed to return to Lucknow as he had cleared his immigration at Lucknow airport and did not possess a valid passport at the airport, said a senior CISF official.