Bengaluru: Pieces of gold worth Rs 1.8 crore hidden inside the toilet of an IndiGo plane that flew from Male, Maldives, to Bengaluru were unearthed by sleuths of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) at Kempegowda International Airport.
The agency is now trying to track the passenger who smuggled in the gold and placed it in the toilet, possibly for an accomplice to retrieve.
Sources said the smuggling bid was foiled at KIA on October 7 evening after the flight touched down. Following specific information, the Bengaluru unit of DRI boarded the flight shortly after passengers disembarked and combed it. The sleuths soon found a packet pasted under the wash basin area of one of the toilets. In it were solid gold pieces weighing 3.2kg. Investigators suspect the gold was placed for another passenger, an accomplice, to board in Bengaluru when the flight turned to a domestic leg. A thorough probe is under way to check any possible role of the airline or airport staff, sources said.
In another operation at KIA on October 9, the DRI Bengaluru team arrested two men from Tamil Nadu who landed in an Etihad Airways flight from Abu Dhabi. They were smuggling in gold paste inside their rectum. After being nabbed by DRI, the youth handed over seven capsules containing a total of 2.8kg of gold, estimated to be worth Rs 1.2 crore in its present market value. Further probe is on to find out if they are part of an international racket.
16/10/2023 Petlee Peter/Times of India
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