Thiruvananthapuram: A passenger from Dubai was detained at the airport here with two kilograms of gold on Thursday.
The seizure has led to the suspicion that the man, Basheer Shamsudheen, was operating in connivance with an airport insider, officials said.
Kozhikode resident Shamsudheen who arrived by an Emirates flight headed to a washroom exclusively set aside for use by customs and immigration officials oblivious of the fact that he was being watched.
Officials intercepted him when he left the customs area. On frisking they found two gold bars each weighing a kilogram each concealed in mobile phone covers.
Shamsudheen reportedly told his interrogators that a contact whose identity he was unaware of was to approach him in the washroom. The contact, he was told, would ask him, Are you Kunhali? He was then supposed to hand over the gold to the contact which made the customs suspect that the contact could be an insider.
22/11/13 Times of India
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The seizure has led to the suspicion that the man, Basheer Shamsudheen, was operating in connivance with an airport insider, officials said.
Kozhikode resident Shamsudheen who arrived by an Emirates flight headed to a washroom exclusively set aside for use by customs and immigration officials oblivious of the fact that he was being watched.
Officials intercepted him when he left the customs area. On frisking they found two gold bars each weighing a kilogram each concealed in mobile phone covers.
Shamsudheen reportedly told his interrogators that a contact whose identity he was unaware of was to approach him in the washroom. The contact, he was told, would ask him, Are you Kunhali? He was then supposed to hand over the gold to the contact which made the customs suspect that the contact could be an insider.
22/11/13 Times of India
