Mumbai: It took 48 hours for a team of doctors at Cooper Hospital in Vile Parle to retrieve 12 pieces of gold weighing 300 gram from the stomach of a Sri Lankan national, who was caught for smuggling by the Mumbai airport customs on May 19.
While Mohamed Faheem (55), who arrived from Colombo by a Jet Airways flight, voluntarily ejected six pieces of gold from his rectum at the airport, persisted beeping of the metal detector led to him having to be admitted to the hospital. Doctors and nursing staff had a tough time to retrieve the 12 pieces from his stomach. In total, 505 gram of gold worth ₹14.9 lakh was recovered.
Air Intelligence Unit (AIU) officials said Mr. Faheem had cleared the customs green channel when he was directed to pass through the door frame metal detector. “Since it beeped giving indications of metals secreted in his body, we detained him.”
Pradnyasheel Jumle, Deputy Commissioner, AIU, told The Hindu , “He voluntarily ejected six pieces of gold weighing 205 gram. We then asked him to pass through the metal detector, but it beeped again. Since the passenger was unable to eject it and as he had confessed to swallowing some pieces of gold before arriving in Mumbai, he was taken to Cooper Hospital.”
Official said an ECG revealed a heart condition. “Thus administering enema was not easy. Bowel cleaning was done and he was given bananas to eat.”
Cooper Hospital’s dean Dr. Ganesh Shinde said laxatives were given orally and enema was also administered through the rectum. “We did several x-ray till all the trace of foreign body had disappeared.”
In two other cases on Friday, the AIU intercepted two persons from Kerala, arriving from Dubai, and seized about 2,000 gram of gold worth ₹57 lakh. While Manya Siddiqui (33), a resident of Kasargod, was arrested with ₹27.50 lakh worth of gold, Paniyan Shaheed (31) was arrested for smuggling ₹29.65 lakh worth of gold concealed between the layers of the supportive lining of his trolley bag.
