air india news Photo Credit: ANI Air India suspends pilot for allegedly shoplifting in Sydney ( Representative image)

New Delhi: In a major embarrassment for the national carrier, Regional Director (East) of Air India Captain Rohit Bhasin was allegedly caught shoplifting on Saturday at Sydney airport before operating a flight.

Captain Bhasin is one of the most senior commanders of Air India. He was to operate the Air India flight AI 301, which flies from Sydney to Delhi.

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However, before he boarded the flight, Bhasin was reportedly caught shoplifting a wallet at one of the duty-free stores at Sydney.

Authorities swung into action immediately, with the airline placing its regional director (East) under suspension without pay.

As per reports, Bhasin has been de-rostered by the national carrier and he has also been asked not to enter Air India’s office premises without the written permission of the management.

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In an official statement, Air India said that it has constituted an inquiry to investigate the matter.

“Air India lays the highest stress on proper conduct of its staff and has a zero-tolerance policy towards acts of impropriety. There is an initial report of one of its captains, Mr Rohit Bhasin, who is also working as a regional director, picking up a wallet from a duty-free shop in Sydney. Air India has instituted an enquiry into this incident and has placed the Captain under suspension,” the statement read.

The pilot has also been asked to submit his identification card with the national carrier. His suspension letter read, "You will not be eligible to any wages except the subsistence allowance as per rules with immediate effect."

In May, Air India had to go through another embarrassing incident when one of its pilots was held in Sharjah in a drunken state before he was supposed to operate a flight to Kochi. Reportedly, the captain was arrested after security officials noticed a strong odour of alcohol from him.

Captain Rajiv Nanda was made to go through a breathalyzer test which proved that he was drunk. Following this, Nanda was not allowed to fly the aircraft. As the airline was asked to provide another pilot, flight AI 934 was delayed for three hours, much to the inconvenience of 120 passengers.

According to the rules by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, if a pilot is caught drunk for the first time at work, he or she will not be put on flying duty and their licence would also be suspended for three months.

