New Delhi:
Just a few days after Parminder Kaur Gulati, a suspended pilot of Indigo airline, was arrested on charges of faking her marksheet to get a pilot licence, another arrest on the same grounds has been made. This time around, Captain J K Verma, a pilot of the national carrier Air India has been arrested.
"We have arrested Verma. Investigations are on. We have been provided more names by the Directorate General Civil Aviation (DGCA). The scanner is on two more pilots - Meenakshi Sehgal of Indigo and Swaran Singh Talwar of MDLR," a senior police official said.
It all began after Parminder Kaur Gulati was grounded two months ago for violating landing norms. The matter was then reported to the aviation watchdog, the DGCA. The airline watchdog admits there was a lapse, but says 4000 pilot licences are now under fresh scrutiny.
"In the wake of the fake pilot scare, licenses of 3,000 to 4,000 pilots are being scrutinised by the DGCA," said Civil Aviation secretary Nasim Zaidi.
To get a licence, a pilot has to clear three subjects. But in Gulati's case, a probe by the DGCA showed she couldn't clear two papers, so she allegedly forged the marksheets.