Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 19 Jun, 2023 05:20 PM
New Delhi, June 20 (IANS) Three persons have been arrested here at the IGI Airport for attempting to smuggle 1,122 gm of gold valued at over Rs 57 lakh, an official said on Monday.
A Customs official said that the arrest was made based on profiling when an air passenger arrived at IGI, and was about to board a flight to Bangkok.
"During the investigation, it was revealed that the passenger admitted to smuggling the gold in paste form by handing it over to an airline staff member who then clandestinely took it outside the Delhi airport without declaring it to the proper customs officer or paying the customs duty on the gold," an official said.
The Customs officials seized a total of 1,122 gm of gold valued at Rs 57,65,879 under Section 110 of the Customs Act.
"Both the passenger and the referred person have committed offences punishable under Sections 132 and 135 of the Customs Act. They have been placed under arrest in accordance with Section 104 of the Customs Act," added the official.
As per the latest data, nearly 1.25 crore passengers were carried by the domestic airlines during January, 2023 in the country as against 64 lakh during the same period last year. The passenger load factor or occupancy of the airlines remained on the higher side in the range of 80 to 90 per cent.
The accused were identified as Hardeep Harnal (35), a resident of Mohali, Punjab; Himanshu Verma (27), a resident of Sitapur, Uttar Pradesh; Sharafat Ali (29), a resident of Ambala, Haryana; and Sagar Bagga (30), a resident of Rohini in Delhi.
Mishra, who was arrested by the Delhi Police from Bengaluru on January 7 for allegedly urinating on a 70-year-old woman while in a drunken state on a flight last November, was granted bail on January 31 by national capital's Patiala House Court.
NCB Deputy Director General Gyaneshwar Singh said the woman was identified as Syeeda Abida. She had plans to travel from Delhi to Doha by a Qatar Airline flight but was apprehended at IGI Airport on March 10.
The two sessions of G20 are slated to be held in the state on March 15-17 and March 19-20. The first one is the second G20 Education Working Group Meeting, while the second is a two-day Labour 20 (L20) meeting.
On January 25, the Supreme Court granted interim bail for eight weeks to Ashish Mishra and directed him to leave Uttar Pradesh within one week of his release from jail. A bench comprising Justices Surya Kant and J.K. Maheshwari directed the sessions judge dealing with the trial of the case to keep apprising it about the future developments of the trial.
