A scuffle after ‘safely’ coming out of the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) in the city landed a passenger in trouble after the police checked his bag and found gold in the form of paste.
The passenger, Manikyam, who arrived at the Hyderabad airport here from Malaysia by Air Asia flight number AK 69, entered into an argument with another passenger after coming out of the airport lounge.
Passenger’s defence
RGIA sub-inspector Srisailam intervened to resolve the issue. “When subjected to thorough checking, we found two packets of brown paste in his baggage. The passenger told us that it was imported face wash,” an officer said.
On suspicion, the passenger was handed over to customs officials, who later said that the passenger was carrying 340 grams of gold in the form of paste.
In another case, the customs officials arrested a passenger who arrived at RGIA from Dubai by Indigo flight number 6E-025 and recovered a silver-coated gold plate from his possession. The passenger concealed the yellow metal weighing 219 grams worth ₹7.05 lakh in a travel cooker.
The passenger was identified as Marri Srinivas. The officials also arrested a person, who was waiting at the arrival point to receive the yellow metal. He had already received gold concealed in a toy car from another passenger, an officer said.
On Saturday, personnel of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) had foiled a passenger’s attempt to smuggle foreign-origin gold into the city. The passenger in question, identified as Nariyalwala Muhammadsaad Muhammadsuhel, had arrived from Dubai by an Air India flight. He was detained with 478 grams of gold powder. He was later handed over to Customs officials.
