Gold, foreign currency worth Rs 8 cr seized at Mumbai Airport in 24 hrs
Darpan News Desk IANS, 13 Oct, 2022 12:57 PM
Mumbai, Oct 13 (IANS) In its continued crackdown on smuggling, the Customs Department seized 15 kgs gold and foreign currencies of Rs 22 lakh in 24 hours, for which seven passengers have been arrested, an official said here on Thursday.
The haul by Mumbai Airport Customs was carried out during October 11-12 at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, as part of the intensified drive to catch gold and foreign currency smugglers.
An Indian national, who flew from Dubai to Mumbai by an Emirates flight EK-500, was found with 9.9 kgs gold worth Rs 5.20 crore, hidden in a specially designed chest belt with nine pockets and wrapped around his chest and shoulders.
The accused revealed that the gold was handed over to him at Dubai by two Sudanese nationals who have also been nabbed and the trio has been sent to judicial custody for 14 days.
An Indian arriving from Chennai by an IndiGo flight 6E-6149, which had earlier arrived from Sharjah, was detected carrying 1.88 kgs gold dust worth nearly Rs one crore, concealed in his underwear.
In another detection, the Customs sleuths retrieved 1.068 kg and 1.185 kgs gold dust - totally worth over Rs 1.10 crore - in packets hidden in the underwear of two passengers, arriving here from Jeddah by a Saudia flight SV-772.
A Sudanese national, who landed here by an Emirates flight EK-504 from Dubai, was nabbed with gold dust of 973 gms in wax in eggs form, worth Rs 51 lakh, concealed in his rectum.
Besides, the Customs nabbed two Indians, who were about to board a SpiceJet flight SG-13 to Dubai, each carrying Dh 50,000 (Rs 11.20 lakh) and Dh 45,000 (Rs 10.08 lakh), concealed in round cavity of biscuits stuffed in their pockets, after they had crossed the Customs declaration counter.
Balkaur Singh, whose son was shot dead in daylight on May 29 close to his Moosa village in Punjab on May 28, had complained of uneasiness on Thursday night following which he was admitted to a private hospital in Patiala from where he was shifted to the PGIMER here.
Majithia told the media here that this was also necessary because the AAP government had neither made the FIR registered in this case public even after 24 hours, nor taken any action against any BJP leader or middlemen involved.
The matter came to the fore after the victim narrated the ordeal to her parents who rescued her and later approached the Women police station at Gurugram's Sector-51 and registered a case against the accused on Wednesday. The victim told the police that she had met Pooja at a Gurugram mall a month ago. Pooja had offered her a job at a doctor's clinic.
The local people and Bishal's family members claimed that he was found with multiple wounds on Wednesday. It is alleged that Bishal was killed for not agreeing to convert to Christianity in order to marry his tribal girlfriend. Though the police are yet to confirm whether the youth was killed or committed suicide, they have arrested five people in connection with the case.
According to a source with the Ministry, the diplomats see it as a question of credibility and said that such tall claims should be avoided as it hurts the credibility of the country and the government too. The source said that it has left the diplomats embarrassed.
During the intervening night of September 13 and 14, on a specific intelligence input, the ICG strategically deployed two fast interceptor class of ships, C-408 and C-454 for patrolling in areas close to the IMBL. During midnight, the Pakistani boat was observed moving suspiciously in Indian waters, 5 nm inside notional IMBL and 40 nm from Jakhau.
