3 Air India employees arrested for helping gold smugglers
Darpan News Desk IANS, 19 Nov, 2021 09:12 AM
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.
Furnishing details about the incident, Additional DCP-2 Nishant Gupta told IANS that they had received information about a firing incident in the northeast Delhi area on October 1.
The activists of Punjab Congress will walk towards Lakhimpur Kheri in Uttar Pradesh if Priyanka Gandhi is not released and the Union Minister's son accused of murder not arrested, said state party President Navjot Sidhu on Tuesday.
Referring to police action against protesting farmers in Congress-ruled Rajasthan, the BJP leader said, "Congress leaders who are very keen to visit Lakhimpur Kheri have not uttered a single word against police lathicharge on farmers in Hanumangarh, Rajasthan."
Comparisons are on in social media whether this arrest could change the Congress fortunes as after Indira Gandhi's arrest and later in the election in 1980 the Congress returned with a thumping majority.
During the 45-minute long meeting with the Home Minister, Channi also discussed the security situation of the state and demanded that the border must be sealed properly to effectively prevent the smuggling of weapons from Pakistan.
