NEW DELHI: A 36-year-old man accused of stealing another air passenger's bag at the international airport here was arrested within hours from Punjab, police said on Friday.

Mandeep Singh, a school dropout who had arrived from Italy where he worked as a labourer, was arrested from his Moga residence within 24 hours of the theft on Thursday and the stolen bag containing electronic items and clothes was seized from him.

"On Thursday, Sulabh Puri landed at the Indira Gandhi International Airport by an Air India flight from Colombo and complained to the security that one of his two bags was missing," Deputy Commissioner of Police Sanjay Bhatia said.

Police registered a case and came across the suspect during scanning of the CCTV footage from the area. He was later identified as Mandeep Singh from his ticket details.

Mandeep told police that when he stole the bag, it was lying unattended at the airport.