Con Man Arrested For Posing As Lufthansa Pilot At Indian Airport

A man was caught by security personnel at the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGI), Delhi for impersonating a Lufthansa pilot. He was handed over to the airport police and then Delhi police.

Rajan Mahbubani, 48, had donned the uniform of a Lufthansa pilot, along with a fake ID, intending to enjoy advantageous treatments such as avoiding time-consuming security checks and seat upgrades. Mahbubani was seized at the departure gate on Monday morning before boarding an AirAsia flight from Delhi to Kolkata.

AirAsia officials had called the Lufthansa team to check the man's credentials. Aditya Singh Pathania, the Chief Security Officer of Lufthansa then alerted Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) about the probable impersonator at Terminal-3 of the airport. He was removed from the flight and handed over to IGI Airport Police.

"He used to identify himself as a consultant and instructor with the Lufthansa base at Kolkata," sources told The Times of India.

Mahbubani, a resident of Vasant Kunj in Delhi, had reportedly bought the fake ID in Bangkok. He had used the ID to travel between Delhi and Kolkata as many as 15 times in the past six months. The man confessed to making YouTube and TikTok videos while wearing such uniforms.

"There are pictures in his phone of him posing as an Army Colonel," Sanjay Bhatia, the airport’s Deputy Commissioner of Police, said. "He had traveled on various occasions using the same modus operandi."

Mahbubani was detained under the charges of cheating and impersonation. Officers are investigating his travel history as well as background.

"We would like to emphasise that we stand by all security policies and till the time the investigation is completed we would be unable to provide specific details with regards to the same," AirAsia said.