Anil chopper case: 2 Air Works men held; no corporate rivalry

Mumbai, May 4 (PTI) In a major breakthrough in the
Anil Ambani helicopter sabotage case, police arrested two Air
Works employees for planting pebbles in the gearbox cap,
saying it was an outcome of union dispute with management and
not corporate rivalry.

The accused, Uday Manohar Warikar (32) and Palraj
Ganpati Thevar (38), helpers with the aircraft maintenance
company, were arrested Sunday night and remanded to police
custody till May 15 by a local court Monday.

Warikar allegedly planted seven pebbles in the
gearbox cap while Thevar aided him, Joint Commissioner of
Police, Rakesh Maria, told a press conference.

Ruling out any corporate rivalry, Maria said the
incident was a result of a dispute between the management of
Air Works and the 52 union members.

Air Works technician Bharat Borge, who was found
dead on railway tracks last Tuesday, was given a clean chit by
police. He was the first to detect "pebbles and soil" in the
helicopter.

Railway Police however, are yet to ascertain the
reasons for his death but suspect he might have committed
suicide.

"Further investigations will be carried out in the
case and we shall verify if the arrested duo were acting on
the instructions of someone else," crime branch officials
said, adding that more arrests were possible.

"On April 23 during pre-flight maintenance the
engineer checked everything after which Thevar and Warikar
were sent to clean the chopper. At that time Warikar took the
opportunity, opened the gearbox and planted the soil and
pebbles," Maria said.

The duo probably knew the helicopter belonged to
Amabani's company and was aware that it would create an impact
if he put the pebbles, he said.

Warikar had been employed in the aviation firm since
1996, while Thevar had been there since about 1993, Maria
said.

The duo have been booked under Section 440 of the
Indian Penal Code (IPC) for mischief and Section 3(1)(C) of
the Suppression of Unlawful Activities Against Safety of Civil
Aviation Act 1992 for placing substances that could result in
damage to aircraft. The duo can face up to life imprisonment.

Both Warikar and Thevar did not know the technical
aspects of the helicopter which was why they left the cap of
the gearbox with the arrow mark in the wrong direction,
resulting in Borge detecting the sabotage, Maria said.
The dispute between the Air Works management and
union members of the Maharashtra General Kamgaar Mahasangh
had been on since 1995 and a case is also pending in the
labour court.

There have been incidents of dispute reported by the
Air Works management in the past. In August 2008 a brick was
hurled at an aircraft outside the hangar and in October 2008
some miscreants exploded fireworks in the vicinity of
aircraft.

In January this year, some fireworks were ignited
along with a can of petrol in the main electrical supply room
and in March there was a minor fire in a steel cupboard
sparked by fireworks and some fuel, police officials said.

In the last two incidents police cases had been
registered but no arrests were made.

Police officials said they would be probing the
possible involvement of Warikar and Thevar in the previous
incidents.
The police gave a clean chit to the deceased
technician Borge and said he had aided their investigations.

"Borge was not involved in the case and it was
probably his alertness that saved lives," Maria said.

"He had helped us tremendously and he had told us
about the cleaning and maintenance," the Joint Commissioner
said.
However, he refused to comment on whether the
arrested duo had been pressurising Borge.
The police are also still to receive the opinion of
officials from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation on
the potential risk posed by the pebbles and the report from
the Forensic Science Laboratory. PTI