‘WhatsApp’, the popular social media vehicle, has come in handy for gold smugglers to try and sneak in eight kg of gold in collusion with a private security staff at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport here.
The racket was busted by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) and they seized gold worth Rs.2.20 crore and arrested four persons. Among them was an international passenger, two security officials of M/s GMR Hyderabad International Airport Limited (GHIAL), DRI Additional Director General M.K. Singh said on Tuesday.
The two officials were caught while they were handing over the eight kg of smuggled gold to a person at the parking lot of the airport. Earlier, they had collected the gold from a passenger who had flown in from Dubai by Emirates flight EK 524 two days ago. The two GMR security officials walked out of the terminal building without undergoing any customs check. Using their access cards and official position, they managed to move through areas having ‘restricted access’. To make the gold smuggling smoother, the racketeers sent photos of the air passenger and the two GMR security officials to one another through ‘WhatsApp’ for easy identification. Later, the two security officials reached the parking lot at the airport where the receiver lay in wait. The three persons were caught on the spot. Based on their confession, the international passenger too was eventually nabbed.
Two GMR security officials among four arrested at RGIA
