Kozhikode: In a major gold haul, customs officials belonging to Air Intelligence Unit at Calicut International Airport seized 2.5kg of the yellow metal from two passengers who arrived from Jeddah on Thursday night. Customs have estimated the value of the seized gold at Rs 1.3 crore.
Acting on a tip-off, customs officials nabbed Cheeranthodikka Nishad and Sakkeer Punnappala who carried the gold shaped in the form of rods which was concealed inside automatic door closer carried in their checked-in baggage. They had arrived in the Indigo airlines flight from Saudi Arabia.
Each of the accused had carried two rods each weighing a total of 1,298 grams. “They had carried two gold pieces each to keep the value of the confiscated gold below Rs 1 crore to avoid arrest under non-bailable sections. If the value of the gold is below Rs 1 crore, the accused gets bail after their arrest is recorded,” a customs official said.
Customs officials said the two accused are suspected to be part of a same smuggling racket. The two were employed in the Gulf and were acting as carriers, the officials said. Investigations are on to find out other people who were involved in the smuggling attempt.
The seizure was carried out by a team of customs officials led by deputy commissioner T A Kiran and superintendents K P Manoj, Ranji William, Thomas Varughese and Uma Devi.
02/01/21 Times of India
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