By Nabeel A. Khan
New Delhi, Nov 18 (IANS) A jeweller’s bag said to be containing Rs.4 lakh worth of gold was put under security check at a Delhi Metro station. But what came out of the scanning machine was a bag containing two packets of chips and a mineral water bottle! The gold remained untraced Wednesday, a day after the shocking incident.

The incident took place when Sanjeev Nischal, a 38-year-old jeweller, entered the Karol Bagh Metro station with what he said was a black bag containing about 200 gram of gold at around 6.30 p.m. He bought a ticket for Tilak Nagar where he is based.

During the security check carried out by the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), Nischal kept his bag on the baggage scanning machine and moved to the receiving end. The station was crowded.

He waited, but his bag did not come out. He became anxious when the belongings of those who had come after him emerged at the other end of the scanning counter - but not his bag.

However, after about a minute, the bag came out.

“When I saw it I felt there was something fishy as my bag was a bit more shiny than the one that came out. There also seemed to be some difference in size.

“Anyway, I collected it and opened it in front of the security officials. I was shocked to see that the bag did not contain the gold but a water bottle and two packets of chips,” Nischal told IANS.

Soon the CISF personnel raised an alarm and started frantically looking for the lost bag. But even after 10-15 minutes, they failed to unravel the mystery behind the disappearance of the original bag.

The CISF has a slightly different account of the incident.

The CISF maintains that Nischal picked up the bag and went to the platform. He returned later claiming it was not his bag.

Nischal was advised to go to the control room and look for CCTV footage to track his bag.

Nischal first did a complete search of the station to see if any person was carrying a similar bag.

“All the effort was in vain. Moreover, there was no claimer for the bag which I collected from the baggage scanning centre,” said Nischal, who travels frequently on this Metro route.

Before making any further moves, Nischal called the Police Control Room (PCR). The police came at around 7.45 p.m. After the initial checks, he was advised to file a case at the Rajouri Garden Metro police station.

In the meantime he called his brother and some relatives. They also tried to examine the CCTV footage. But no clue was found.

“At time of the incident, the station was heavily crowded as it was peak hour. There was nothing clear in the footage. We could not identify a single person with such a bag,” Nischal added.

In his complaint to the police, Nischal has alleged that he also suspected CISF personnel at the scanning centre.

“We have registered a complaint and the matter is being investigated. We have acquired the CCTV footage from the Delhi Metro and are questioning the CISF officials who were on duty Tuesday night,” said a police officer investigating the case.

Expressing shock over the incident, CISF spokesperson Rohit Katyal told IANS: “The CCTV footage shows that the complainant picked up a bag after it was scanned and went to the platform. He was found searching something inside the bag. Later he came back and complained that the bag he was carrying didn’t belong to him.

“Prima facie it looks like somebody slipped away with his bag. CCTV camera footage has been acquired from the control room of the station and we feel whosoever picked up the bag may have done it unknowingly.”

The distance between the entry and exit points of the baggage scanning centre is “just around three feet,” Katyal added.