Theft On Flight

An AirAsia passenger recovered nearly RM7,000 stolen on board a flight from Colombo to klia2 and helped apprehend the suspect on Sunday.

Mathyalagan Pathmanathan was on AK46, which touched down at klia2 about 5am when he realised that two wallets containing ringgit and Indian rupees were missing from his laptop bag. Mathyalagan’s bag was in a cabin three rows away as the one above his seat was full.

“I was confused as to how a passenger was able to take money from my both wallets in my laptop bag,” he said in a Facebook post. 

The flight was full and when passengers started to disembark, he informed the AirAsia crew members that he had been robbed. Then Mathyalagan remembered a man who was eyeing his movements while he was storing the bag in the overhead compartment.

The man was also spotted near the compartment during the flight. When the flight landed and with the help of Airasia cabin crew, Mathyalagan was able to identify the man.

During checks, a black plastic bag fell from his jacket and they found a large amount of cash, including Mathyalagan’s. The Chinese national has been handed to police for further action.

Klia2 police chief Zulkifli Adamshah said the man has been arrested and remanded until tomorrow. This is the first time such an incident has been reported, Zulkifli said. The suspect was en route to Jakarta when he was arrested.