Air crew 'took India PM's whisky'

The incident is said to have taken place in April during a visit by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Germany.

Angry officials from the civil aviation ministry had questioned why it took Air India so long to report the incident accusing them of a "cover-up".

The BBC's Sunil Raman says it is now being seen as a major security breach.

During the visit last April, the prime minister's security detail on board India's equivalent of Air Force One panicked when they discovered that one of the aircraft's cabinets had been broken into just before take-off.

"[The crew has been] completely cavalier and irresponsible in their behaviour"
Ajay Prasad
India civil aviation secretary

A security alert was immediately sounded as secret service agents and intelligence officials scoured the aircraft for a possible bomb.

But all that they uncovered was the disappearance of several bottles of whisky.

They were eventually discovered in the luggage of the crew.

The airline said on Tuesday that its internal inquiry had established beyond doubt that the alcohol had been stolen during Mr Singh's visit.

'Smuggling' charge

Fourteen crew members were found carrying 29 bottles of top-grade Scotch whisky with the aircraft's captain - who is also a senior airline director - and a flight attendant found in possession of five bottles each.

When the captain was confronted, he said he had bought the whisky.

He is now likely to be charged with smuggling since Indian customs regulations only permit two bottles of alcohol to be brought in to the country by each passenger.

In a letter to Air India, which the BBC has seen, India's top civil aviation ministry official, Ajay Prasad, accused the airline of a cover-up since they failed to report the incident to the authorities in time.

"It is indicative of the fact that such matters are not taken seriously by Air India management," he said.

He said the crew had been "completely cavalier and irresponsible in their behaviour and they do not seem to have understood the implications of the security seal being broken".

The airline now says its internal inquiry had established beyond doubt that the cases of alcohol were pilfered from the prime minister's aircraft.

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