Siliguri, July 8: A man travelling on the Calcutta-Bagdogra flight of a private airline allegedly lost Rs 20,000 in cash from his check-in baggage today with the original security tag on the briefcase bearing marks of tampering and a new one pasted over it.

Bitthal Kothari, the assistant vice-president of Gillanders Aurbuthnot and Co. Ltd, flew into Bagdogra this afternoon by the Jet Airways flight 9W617.

“While collecting my registered baggage, I found that the security tag pasted on my briefcase by the airline staff at Dum Dum had been tampered with and a new tag pasted on top,” Kothari said. “I suspected something wrong and opened the briefcase to find the Rs 20,000 I was carrying missing.”

Kothari immediately went to the Jet Airways officials posted at Bagdogra, who weighed the briefcase and said there was no difference from what it weighed at Dum Dum. The weight is written on the security tag. “How much does Rs 20,000 in currency notes weigh?” asked Kothari.

“When the security adviser of Jet Airways arrived, I told him that the new tag (J535541) pasted over the earlier one (J535525) — which was torn but could still be seen — did not correspond with the serial number of the tag (J535526) pasted on the second piece of luggage I was carrying,” Kothari said.

“The officials refused to give a patient hearing and suggested I submit a written complaint. I did so, describing the incident in detail, and it took hours to get a receipt copy,” Kothari said.

“It is evident that after the tag was pasted on the baggage during the security check at Dum Dum, it was torn, the money was taken and a new tag was pasted over it,” the passenger alleged.

Jet Airways said Kothari’s complaint had been forwarded to its Calcutta office. “There was no difference in weight and nothing else was missing from the briefcase, save the cash as the passenger has alleged,” Sharda, a Jet Airways employee, said over the phone from the airline’s counter in Bagdogra. “However, we have begun an investigation.”

In the past two weeks, gadgets and clothes have gone missing from the registered luggage of at least three passengers who flew to Calcutta.

Two of them, who arrived from Bangkok, said the locks and security tapes on their bags had been intact. The third had come from Hong Kong.

According to airport officials, complaints of theft from passengers arriving at the Calcutta airport have increased in the past few months.

“Baggage handling has been outsourced to agencies. The luggage segregation area is congested with bags and sometimes, the handling employees take advantage,” an official had said.