3 held for smuggling gold at Chennai, Delhi airports
Darpan News Desk IANS, 09 Nov, 2022 12:01 PM
New Delhi, Nov 9 (IANS) Customs officials have arrested three persons for smuggling gold in two seperate cases that were reported from Chennai and Delhi international airports.
In the first case, Customs officials in Chennai said on Wednesday that they have arrested two persons for smuggling gold worth Rs 1.33 crore.
Both the passengers, who came to Chennai from Muscat, were held on Tuesday.
"On search of their baggage, gold strips weighing 3 kg valued at Rs 1.33 crore concealed in the outer lining of their trolley suitcases were seized under the Customs Act," said a Customs official.
In a separate case, a man was held at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi with 355 gm smuggled gold worth over Rs 18 lakh.
"This man also arrived from Muscat. Chemical gold paste weighing 355 gm concealed inside 18 Eclairs toffees was seized under the Customs Act," the official said.
All the three accused were produced before a special court which remanded them to 14-day judicial custody.
Taking umbrage at the Union Minister's new plan on how the future of Chandigarh would be decided, Badal said: "It is not in the ambit of Shekhawat to take a decision on this matter. This is a closed chapter. The UT status of Chandigarh is purely temporary pending transfer to Punjab."
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.