6kg gold worth Rs 1.8 crore found in AI plane, 4 held

Chennai, Jan 26, 2014: In two parallel operations on Saturday, Directorate of Revenue Intelligence officials seized 1.8 crore worth of gold bars from an Air India flight at Chennai and Mumbai airports. A total of 6.1kg gold was seized from the Air India Boeing aircraft from Singapore to Mumbai via Chennai and four men taken into custody. 

While 4.9kg of gold was seized from under a seat and three passengers held at Chennai around 9.45am, 1.2kg of gold was seized at Mumbai airport from a passenger on the same flight. All passengers were part of the same smuggling racket and the gold was to be delivered at Mumbai, an official said. "Seizures and arrests were on a clear tip." 

While three of the gang flew in with the gold from Singapore, the fourth joined them at Chennai as only international passengers are checked thoroughly. "The domestic passenger was supposed to carry the gold out of Mumbai airport," said the official. 

A DRI official said the airline staff could not be blamed for the incident as the gold was concealed in passengers' hand baggage. "Better vigilance will help stop such smuggling attempts." 

This is the second case in the last three months in which gold has been seized from an Air India flight. In October 2013, 9.5 crore worth of gold biscuits were found in an aircraft toilet next to the cockpit on an AI plane at Chennai airport. The gold from Dubai was to be delivered at Delhi as the flight was to be rerouted to Delhi. About a month later, two women, including a cabin staff of Air India, were arrested at Kozhikode airport in Kerala with 6kg gold worth 1.84 crore. 

DRI director general Najib Shah wrote to Air India chairman and managing director Rohit Nandan on the suspected nexus between airline staff and smugglers. DRI has questioned more than a dozen senior Air India staff since November.

Courtesy: The Times of India