Gold worth over Rs 5 crore seized at Mumbai airport, 6 Sudanese nationals arrested
Darpan News Desk IANS, 12 Sep, 2022 11:21 AM
New Delhi, Sep 12 (IANS) The Customs officials seized 12 kg gold worth Rs 5.4 crore from a group of 23 Sudanese passengers who had arrived at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in Mumbai from Dubai.
The official said that the group of 23 Sudanese gathered and attempted to clear the green channel by creating ruckus and divert attention of the customs officers.
"The Sudanese passengers deliberately created a ruckus at customs arrival area through visible signs and acts of aggression including shouting at the officers and even indulging in physical bouts," the official said.
The customs officers remained professional and through reasonable force officers were able to restrain the hostile passengers and managed the situation.
The official said that the modus operandi was to create a ruckus at the customs arrival area to facilitate sly escape of passengers carrying gold.
"Effective and swift execution by customs officers resulted in recovery of 12 gold bars of one kg each concealed in a specially designed belt worn by one passenger trying to slip away under the cover of commotion. In this matter, five other passengers who deliberately acted in hostile manner to divert attention of the customs officers were also detained for questioning," the official said.
The customs officials learnt that the six passengers had arrived at Mumbai airport with a pre-planned strategy to create situations to help slipping away of one passenger with the seized gold.
The five passengers have admitted being part of the pre-conceived conspiracy to smuggle gold and have also been arrested along with the passenger from whom the gold was recovered. All have been remanded to judicial custody of 14 days.
"In addition, six other Sudanese passengers who added to the commotion by constantly resisting customs check were apprehended. With the help of Bureau of Immigration, Mumbai Airport office, these six passengers have been blacklisted and sent back to Sudan," the official said.
Mann said in another significant decision, the state government has now decided to appoint Chief Minister Field Officers as Nodal Officers for NRIs to ensure redressal of their grievances. He said that these officers will prove to be an ideal Nodal Officer for NRIs as they will be effectively able to coordinate across departments and districts, besides having a direct communication with the Chief Minister's Office.
The passengers were later identified as Moshin Khan Saifi and Asim. Saifi was supposed to travel from Delhi to Hyderabad by Vistara Flight, whereas Asim was supposed to travel from Delhi to Dubai by Air India Express flight.
The official said that at about 4 pm, CISF staff at Terminal-3 noticed suspicious activities of a passenger in the check-in area. The passenger was later identified as Misam Raza, who was about to fly to Dubai on a SpiceJet flight. Raza was then diverted to the random checking point for a thorough checking of his luggage.
The arrested accused have been identified as Vikas Bhadana, Paras Sood, Thachang Tungshanao, Avinash, Ram Basua and Abhislash Singh, the call centre manager. While the call centre and house owner has been identified as Sachin Taneja.
A SAD delegation led by its president Sukhbir Singh Badal met Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit and handed over a memorandum stating that the Chief Minister and the Excise Minister have violated the provisions of the Official Secrets Act by making official files of the state available to Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and MP Raghav Chadha, besides private persons.
The location of another plotter, Anmol Bishnoi, has also been traced to Kenya. The Bishnois had fled India before the daylight killing of Moosewala on May 29 in the Moosa village in Mansa district. It is believed that Sachin, a nephew of jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, and Brar hatched the conspiracy to kill the famed Punjabi singer.
