Gold bars weighing 18 kg worth over Rs.5.4 crore were seized from three passengers by the Air Intelligence Unit of the Customs Department at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) in Shamshabad on Thursday midnight.
The arrested passengers have been identified as Chokka Lingam Murganandan (43), Zainuddin (50) and Haji Mohammed (50). They landed at the airport from Singapore in the Tiger Airlines flight number 2624 at around 12.40 a.m. when the customs officials intercepted them. Authorities checked the handbags of the three passengers. On suspicion, officials also frisked the trio through metal detector and found gold bars concealed in their trouser pockets and shoes.
“During interrogation, the passengers confessed to the offence and revealed that to avoid payment of customs duty on gold, they had smuggled the same by deftly concealing the yellow metal in their trouser pockets and shoes,” B. B. Prasad, Chief Commissioner of Customs, Hyderabad Zone, told the media here on Friday, adding that the accused were carrying six gold bars each weighing one kg. The accused, all Indian citizens, went to Singapore a few years ago and settled there. They also secured the passports of the Republic of Singapore.
The Customs officials have detected 20 cases of gold smuggling so far and seized 16 kg of gold valued at Rs.4.8 crore and 13 passengers were also arrested. The accused concealed gold in the false bottom of bags, inner garments, secret pockets of trousers and inside the soles of shoes.
