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.
The Customs department has seized as many as 45 hand guns from two passengers -- both Indian nationals, here at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport, an official said on Wednesday. The guns were seized from Jagjit Singh and his wife Jaswinder Kaur, who arrived here from Ho Chi Minh (Vietnam) on July 11 along with their infant daughter.
Mann said this facility will provide a huge reprieve to the people desirous of buying new vehicles. Ever since assuming the charge of office, the government has taken several pro-people decisions to benefit every strata of society, he said.
A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled the cast of the national emblem atop the new Parliament building, opposition parties and activists on Tuesday accused the government of distorting the national emblem by replacing the graceful and confident Ashokan lions with those displaying an aggressive posture.
The container, which was loaded from the Jebel Ali port in the UAE, was booked by an importer from Malerkotla in Punjab. The DGP said that as the link of the container has been established with Punjab, the consignment seems to be routed to some other place via Punjab.
In March, the top court had reserved the order on sentence to Mallya, who was found guilty of contempt in 2017 for disobeying court's order for not disclosing full particulars of assets in case between the SBI and Kingfisher Airlines.
Besides Bains, Paramjit Singh Pamma, Jasbir Kaur, Baljinder Kaur and Pardeep Kumara surrendered in the court of Judicial Magistrate Harsimranjit Kaur. Two other accused -- Karamjit Singh Bains and Sukhchain Singh -- are in judicial custody. All seven were declared proclaimed offender on April 12.
