CBI arrests 9 customs officials at Chennai air cargo complex

Chennai: In a massive raid on Monday night, sleuths of the anti-corruption wing of the CBI raided the baggage unit at the air cargo complex in Chennai airport and arrested nine customs officials eight of them middle-level officials and a couple of touts who were striking deals on their behalf. The suspects were allegedly involved in a duty evasion racket which involved undervaluing imported items and unaccompanied baggage.
In subsequent raids carried out on the office premises and the residences of the accused, CBI recovered Rs 17 lakh in unaccounted cash and Rs 25 lakh worth jewellery. The action coincided with raids carried out on government departments in other cities including Delhi and Kolkata.
The CBI arrested superintendents, K Baskar, R Arivudai Nambi, A Nageswari, M Palaniappan, preventive officers, Jagmohan Meena, V Asaithambi, T Manjula, B F Benjamin, senior tax assistant, K Kannan and two touts, G Kumar and S Rajkumar. The air cargo complex has 11 customs officials in all, of which only two were not involved in this racket, CBI officials said.
The CBI officials had to put up with protests from fellow customs officials, some even seniors, while making the arrests. The sleuths recovered Rs 59,000 from the office premises.
None of the officials could provide convincing answers about the source of the seized money. Finally, Kumar, an outsider, who works as an agent of the accused customs officials, admitted that he had collected the money from the clients on behalf of the officials," a senior CBI official told The Times of India.
25/11/09 K Praveen Kumar/Times of India

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Categories: Airports Nov 2009, Cargo Nov 2009