FOR the past year, a Singaporean director of a construction firm has been baffled each time he sends workers back to India.

At Changi Airport, he notices that they check in boxes of new 32-inch TV sets even though they were carrying only a few small bags on his truck on the way there.

'They said they ordered it weeks ago and collected it from a sales agent at the airport,' said the 50-year-old director who wanted to be known only as Mr Lee. A 32-inch Sony Bravia TV set costs about $2,200.

He said this has happened with 90 per cent of the 50 workers he sent home in the past year.

Unknown to him, his employees are the ideal targets for a band of touts who loiter daily at the check-in counters at Changi Airport's Terminal 1.

Last Thursday, Singaporean engineer Natarajan Tamilalagan, 38, wrote to The Straits Times' Forum page to highlight this problem.

He felt that the touts' presence marred the reputation of the airport, especially when they resort to threats and heckling.

Mostly male Indian nationals from Tamil Nadu, these touts are known to accost Chennai-bound Air India passengers with light baggage.

They offer money if the passenger agrees to check in items such as rice cookers and large Sony Bravia and Samsung LCD television sets.

Passengers are paid $7 per kg, which works out to about $140 for a 32-inch TV set and $40 for a rice cooker.

Baggage weight in excess of the permitted 20kg for Air India's economy class is charged at about $10 per kg.

When The Sunday Times visited the airport last Friday evening, we spotted at least six men touting outside Row 6 and Row 10 in Terminal 1, the check-in counters for Air India and Air India Express flights.

Business seemed brisk. More than 10 people holding air tickets were seen carting the TV sets to the check-in counters.

The touts, mostly in their 30s to 40s, tend to target male travellers. According to observers, they turn up at the check-in counters every morning and evening when flights to Chennai depart.

They arrive with airport trolleys stacked with boxes of the items, which they park at one side while they scout for passengers.

'Sometimes they repack the things into others' suitcases and leave cardboard boxes and strings all over the floor. I'm surprised because I thought Singapore was supposed to be nice and clean,' said Mr James Larsen, 60, a tourist from Denmark.

He noticed the touts approaching passengers as early as two hours before the gates opened for check-in. Dressed in short-sleeved shirts and trousers, the touts blend easily into the crowd. Their only distinguishing marks are the pocket-size notebooks they fish out when an agreement is struck.

Then, they jot down the passenger's passport details and scribble an identification number on their items. They then accompany the passenger to the check-in counter.

No payment is made at Changi. According to Indian nationals who are aware of this scheme, the passenger gets the money only when he hands over his baggage slip to agents waiting at Chennai Airport.

All the passengers spotted with TV sets denied that a transaction had been made when The Sunday Times spoke to them.

One Indian national, who declined to give his name, said he was carrying the TV set 'for a friend'.

After a tout interrupted us mid-conversation, the Indian national clarified that he had bought the TV set himself.

One tout revealed that he runs an electronics shop in Tamil Nadu and that he was in Singapore for only 10 days. Asked how much he sold the TV sets for in India, he kept mum and refused to answer further questions.

While carrying someone else's luggage is not illegal, persons caught touting in public places can be fined between $1,000 and $5,000 or sentenced to up to six months' jail.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS), which manages the airport, has received two complaints in recent months about baggage touts.

'CAAS is monitoring the situation and working closely with Certis Cisco and the police to step up checks and patrols at the departure hall,' said a spokesman.

And though all checked-in baggage is security-screened, it advises travellers not to accept unknown items or baggage not packed by themselves as these could contain prohibited items or contraband.