He was a serial con man. But they found out. He was arrested at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi while wearing a Lufthansa pilot’s uniform and preparing to board a plane. His name is Rajan Mahbubani: he was proudly wearing his captain’s uniform and was about to board AirAsia flight I5-579 to Kolkata. The story dates back to 2019, but it has spread widely on social media in recent days.

Scam

The head of security at German Airlines warned of this “A suspicious passenger dressed as a Lufthansa airline captain». The man, who lived in Vasant Kunj in New Delhi district, was in possession of a fake captain’s card which he used to obtain privileges at airports and travel for free. “The passenger admitted to recording videos of the plane on YouTube»“said an officer.

Interrogation

During police interrogation, it was revealed that Mahbubani liked to wear uniforms for various professions. On his phone were pictures of him pretending to be an army colonel. He shared his antics on TikTok “Mahbubani said that he traveled frequently and pretended to be a pilot to facilitate access and obtain security clearances so that he could obtain preferential treatment from security services and airlines.»According to Deputy Commissioner of Police Sanjay Bhatia.

The stunt, which has been compared to what Leonardo DiCaprio pulled in Steven Spielberg’s Catch Me If You Can, was uncovered at the Delhi airport gate as Mahbubani was about to board a flight thanks to a tip-off from a staff member who was turning suspicious. The fake pilot admitted the deception and revealed that he had bought the fake Lufthansa badge in Thailand. He is now in prison, and if convicted he risks up to a year in prison.

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