The over-enthusiasm of customs officials in Hyderabad to go after a Mumbai-bound gold smuggler seems to have landed the officials in a fix.
Sleuths of the air intelligence unit (AIU) of the customs department search aboard an Air India flight that arrived at the Hyderabad airport from Jeddah on Tuesday and seized 79 tolas of gold (790 gm) concealed in the aircraft's wall. However, a passenger, who is suspected to have kept the gold in the cavity, later claimed that he had brought the gold legally and had kept it there for "safe-keeping". The flyer claimed that even before he could declare it at the customs area, the AIU team seized it.
The AIU team zeroed in on the 25-year-old passenger, who boarded the Jeddah-Hyderabad-Mumbai flight (AI 966). The AIU team boarded the flight when it landed at the Hyderabad airport on Tuesday morning and carried out a search.
"We found four gold pieces in a cavity in the aircraft's wall beside the suspect's seat. We seized the gold," a customs official said. However, as the gold was not found on the passenger, the sleuths let him continue his journey to Mumbai. On landing at Mumbai, the flyer took the 'red channel' at the customs check, indicating he had dutiable goods. He told officials that his gold was seized in Hyderabad.
"If he pays duty, he can take the gold. Though we are sure the gold was hidden to be picked up by some domestic flyer on the same flight from Hyderabad to Mumbai, we didn't catch anyone. With the flyer claiming he had kept the gold for safety, it is hard to prove the smuggling angle," said a customs source. Senior officials, requesting anonymity, told TOI that instead of seizing the gold, the sleuths should have waited for the flyer or his aide to pick it up and try to smuggle it out of Mumbai airport.
03/05/18 Mahesh Buddi/Times of India
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Sleuths of the air intelligence unit (AIU) of the customs department search aboard an Air India flight that arrived at the Hyderabad airport from Jeddah on Tuesday and seized 79 tolas of gold (790 gm) concealed in the aircraft's wall. However, a passenger, who is suspected to have kept the gold in the cavity, later claimed that he had brought the gold legally and had kept it there for "safe-keeping". The flyer claimed that even before he could declare it at the customs area, the AIU team seized it.
The AIU team zeroed in on the 25-year-old passenger, who boarded the Jeddah-Hyderabad-Mumbai flight (AI 966). The AIU team boarded the flight when it landed at the Hyderabad airport on Tuesday morning and carried out a search.
"We found four gold pieces in a cavity in the aircraft's wall beside the suspect's seat. We seized the gold," a customs official said. However, as the gold was not found on the passenger, the sleuths let him continue his journey to Mumbai. On landing at Mumbai, the flyer took the 'red channel' at the customs check, indicating he had dutiable goods. He told officials that his gold was seized in Hyderabad.
"If he pays duty, he can take the gold. Though we are sure the gold was hidden to be picked up by some domestic flyer on the same flight from Hyderabad to Mumbai, we didn't catch anyone. With the flyer claiming he had kept the gold for safety, it is hard to prove the smuggling angle," said a customs source. Senior officials, requesting anonymity, told TOI that instead of seizing the gold, the sleuths should have waited for the flyer or his aide to pick it up and try to smuggle it out of Mumbai airport.
03/05/18 Mahesh Buddi/Times of India
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