Man conceals gold in rectum, held at Lucknow airport
Darpan News Desk IANS, 14 Jul, 2022 12:52 PM
Lucknow, July 14 (IANS) A man has been arrested by customs sleuths at Lucknow airport after he landed with Rs 20.6 lakh worth of pure gold concealed in his rectum.
The passenger had boarded IndiGo 6E 1088 flight from Dubai, landing in Lucknow three-and-a-half hours later.
According to customs officials, "The gold was in the form of a paste which was wrapped in black tape in two packets. The total weight of the packets was 433 grams. After removing the tape and other impurities from gold, it weighs 397 grams."
According to a customs official, "The passenger was walking strangely when he queued up for immigration clearance. His profile did not match with a passenger who would visit Dubai for merely a tour. The metal detector further raised the suspicion. He was brought out of the queue and was interrogated."
The team recovered two packets in which pure gold was hidden in paste form. The accused passenger had concealed the packet in his rectum.
"It is amazing that he travelled for more than three hours in such a way," the official said.
The passenger was arrested and presented before the chief judicial magistrate (economic offences) for judicial custody.
Further investigation is under process. The smuggled gold was supposed to be taken to the National Capital Region.
Lt Gen Aujla, an alumnus of the Indian Military Academy, Dehradun, was commissioned in December 1987 and has had an illustrious military career spanning 35 years during which he has held varied prestigious command, staff and instructional appointments.
The area around the Intelligence Bureau office has been sealed and investigation is in progress. A bomb disposal and forensic squads have been positioned at the spot. Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann spoke to Director General of Police V.K. Bhawra and sought details about the incident.
Notably, the police detained several people, including party workers, who were not allowing the SDMC to carry out the demolition drive at Shaheen Bagh. After the agitation was quelled, the bulldozer moved forward to demolish the illegal encroachment, an iron structure in front of a building. It is at this juncture that Khan reached the spot and was seen speaking to the officials.
Punjab shares a 553-km barbed-wire fenced international border with Pakistan which is under the vigil of nearly 135 BSF battalions. The drug network operates along the Afghanistan-Pakistan-India route.
Police are looking at this angle. The incident took place near Kengeri at 1 a.m. and the injured were shifted to nearby hospitals. According to the police, the bus had first hit the 4-feet tall road divider and then rammed into the Namma Metro Pillar number 545.
Chairing a meeting of the Special Task Force (STF) team led by its chief Harpreet Sidhu here, Mann said neither political persons nor officers would be spared if found conniving with the drug mafia. He told the police officers to work freely without any political pressure with a sharpened focus to make Punjab a drug-free state.