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.
Sidhu has urged the apex court not to punish him with a jail term in a 1988 road rage case in which he was let off with a meagre fine of Rs 1,000. Senior advocate Siddharth Luthra, representing Gurnam Singh's family, submitted that he has moved an application seeking enlargement of the scope of the notice issued.
With Ukraine closing its airspace after Russia launched a military operation in the country on Thursday, the Indian Embassy in Kiev has asked the Indian nationals to start moving towards the bordering areas so that they can be evacuated safely.
The Indian Embassy in Kiev stated that the helpline numbers are being set up at the respective check-points to facilitate evacuation through the borders. These control rooms will be based in Poland, Romania and Hungary and they will be managed by the Indian officials posted in those countries.
On Thursday, India's Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla had stated that Jaishankar has spoken to concerned officials in Poland, Romania, Hungary and Slovakia for setting up camps on the border areas for evacuation of stranded Indian nationals.
An official spokesperson said the affected people or their relatives could call from within Punjab on helpline number 1100 and others from outside India on +91-172-4111905 for seeking information in this regard.