Smuggled gold worth Rs 95 lakh seized at KIA

Customs sleuths at the Kempegowda International Airport seized smuggled gold worth Rs 95 lakh in Bengaluru over the past three days.

Kannad Kathasleem Arif (21), a passenger from Dubai was apprehended by the sleuths and gold weighing 895 gm worth Rs 28.43 lakh was seized from him.

He arrived by a flight (EK568)  on Tuesday  with gold in the form of foils concealed in corrugated boxes which in turn was used for wrapping toys.

"It was a challenge for the sleuths as the gold foils were wrapped in black carbon papers making it difficult to appear on x-ray scanning," said Harsh Vardhan Umre, Additional Commissioner, Customs Bengaluru.

In a separate case, gold weighing 1,900 gm worth Rs 60 lakh was found by the sleuths in flight 572 from Singapore which arrived on February 18.

The gold that was in the form of two biscuits was wrapped in a black insulating tape and kept inside a bag in cabin luggage which was found abandoned in the flight.

In another case, the sleuths apprehended a passenger Mohammed Talib Ahmed who arrived in Bengaluru by the flight (EK564) from Dubai on  February 20.

On thorough interrogation and search of the passenger, 233.24 gm of gold valued at Rs 7.4 lakh was concealed in his rectum, said the sleuths.

On Monday, the sleuths seized cigarettes worth Rs 4 lakh from Allah Baksh. He arrived from Kuala Lumpur to the city.