Two held at Mumbai Airport with gold concealed in undergarments
Darpan News Desk IANS, 17 Jan, 2023 11:04 AM
Mumbai, Jan 17 (IANS) The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) on Tuesday said that they arrested two persons at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport here and seized 8.230 kgs of gold in paste form valued at Rs 4.54 crore.
The DRI said that they got specific intelligence input that gold in paste form is being smuggled into India by a syndicate of passengers who are traveling from Dubai to Mumbai on January 17.
"Surveillance was mounted by DRI officers at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport. The suspected passengers were identified and intercepted by the team at the airport. A thorough examination of the passengers led to recovery of 8.230 kgs of gold in paste form. The value of the gold is about Rs 4.54 crore," an official said.
The DRI said that most of the recovered gold was concealed in undergarments of the passengers making it extremely difficult to detect. This is a unique modus operandi busted by the DRI, indicating the uphill task faced by its officers on a regular basis to check the syndicates smuggling gold in various forms into the country.
"Two persons have been arrested in the above case. Further investigation in the instant case is under progress to unravel the complete chain of persons involved in the illegal inflow of gold into the country," the official added.
Punjab Lok Congress President Capt Amarinder Singh on Wednesday said the state needed the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government for security as well as economic revival.
"His bag was searched by us and we recovered 18 gold biscuits weighing 2,100 gm worth Rs 1.3 crore from him. He failed to give any satisfactory answer to us. He also failed to produce any documents in this respect," said the customs official.
He said, "It is shocking that while the entire country has rejected these laws, Kejriwal typically quietly keeps them in force. One can well imagine what his true anti-farmer intent and agenda in Punjab is."
Pointing out that Punjab was never before divided on caste or religious lines, Capt Amarinder said "Charanjit Channi does not have the calibre of a chief minister," and his tall claims cannot fool the people of the state.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) told the court that Honey was required to be questioned more. On the other hand, the counsel appearing for Honey opposed the prosecution's move, saying there was no need for more custodial remand.
The Police have nabbed an accused Sanjeev (22), a resident of Mahipalpur, Delhi and lab operator from the spot while Anuj Sharma was not found on the spot. Police have seized Rs 12,500, fake Covid reports, laptop, printer, a rubber stamp, mobile and other documents from the spot.
