3 Air India employees arrested for helping gold smugglers

Jaipur, Nov 19 (IANS) Three employees of Air India, accused of having a role in the smuggling of gold, have been arrested, officials said on Friday.

They have been accused of having a hand in a recent incident wherein 1.5 kg gold -- stored beneath an aircraft's seat -- was seized.

A passenger, who was later questioned in the matter, revealed the involvement of three employees of Air India.

All three of them have been arrested on charges of assisting in gold smuggling.

The Customs Department claims that the smugglers had brought gold worth Rs 75 lakh hidden under the seat with the help of the arrested individuals.

"...or else, it was not possible to hide the gold under the seat of the plane," an official said.

According to the information received, this is the first time that the collusion of airline employees has come to the fore in the case of gold smuggling.

On November 16, at Jaipur airport, the Customs team had seized gold from an aircraft.

A senior Customs official said that gold was hidden under the seat of the plane with the connivance of Shivram Meena, Gyanchand Meena and Kaushal Verma.

During questioning, it was revealed that they have been working for Air India for the last four years.