Mumbai: A Sri Lankan citizen was arrested at the departure area of the international airport in Andheri with about US $85,000 (almost Rs 56 lakh) after a drama lasting about an hour and a half early on Friday.
The Colombo-bound passenger, Mohammed Sajehan, caught the eye of officials of the Airport Intelligence Unit (AIU) of customs when he was trying to hurry into the aircraft close to departure time. Alerted by this behavior that sleuths said is typical of currency smugglers, officials stopped him. A jumpy Sajehan first denied he was carrying any contraband but later admitted he was carrying $40,000. The sleuths suspected he might be carrying more and asked him to accompany them to their office. At that moment he started screaming and all hell broke loose.
He refused to move from the spot and began shouting that he was being targeted since he is from a minority community. When officers insisted he cooperate with them, he held on to a nearby chair and refused to go. Suddenly, he kneeled down and began offering prayers at the spot, forcing the officers to keep their hands off. Finally, after much persuasion, Sajehan agreed to go with "police officials".
07/11/15 Vijay V Singh/Times of India
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The Colombo-bound passenger, Mohammed Sajehan, caught the eye of officials of the Airport Intelligence Unit (AIU) of customs when he was trying to hurry into the aircraft close to departure time. Alerted by this behavior that sleuths said is typical of currency smugglers, officials stopped him. A jumpy Sajehan first denied he was carrying any contraband but later admitted he was carrying $40,000. The sleuths suspected he might be carrying more and asked him to accompany them to their office. At that moment he started screaming and all hell broke loose.
He refused to move from the spot and began shouting that he was being targeted since he is from a minority community. When officers insisted he cooperate with them, he held on to a nearby chair and refused to go. Suddenly, he kneeled down and began offering prayers at the spot, forcing the officers to keep their hands off. Finally, after much persuasion, Sajehan agreed to go with "police officials".
07/11/15 Vijay V Singh/Times of India
