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.
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Monday carried out his first Cabinet expansion by inducting five legislators, including second-time MLA Aman Arora, into his council of ministers. The expansion came in less than four months of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) sweeping to victory in the Assembly elections by winning 92 seats of the 117 seats.
The police have so far managed to nab four of the accused, including one woman, who have been identified as Gurjant Singh (31), Navjot Singh (30), Satpal Singh (28) and Gurpreet Kaur (30).
The ambidextrous sharpshooter, identified as Ankit alias Chhota, a resident of Sonipat in Haryana, was most desperate to commit the crime."He fired simultaneously from two pistols in his two hands," H.G.S. Dhaliwal, Special Commissioner (Special Cell), said during a media briefing.
With this the two-and-half year old, three-party Shiv Sena-Nationalist Congress Party-Congress government experiment has collapsed, barely hours after Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari ordered a floor test late on Tuesday night.
In a daze the victim handed over her gold locket and a pair of golden tops to the accused. When she regained her senses she called the police. Based on her complaint, the police registered a case under sections 420 and 34 of the Indian Penal Code.
In regulatory filing, Reliance Jio, the telecom arm of the Reliance group, said the Board of Directors at its meeting held on Monday "approved the appointment of Akash Ambani, Non-executive Director, as the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the company".
