14 gold bars worth well over Rs 2 crore were found hidden in two secret compartments
13 kg gold seized at Chennai airport
Chennai: In a huge haul, about 13 kilograms of smuggled gold, worth more than '4 crore in the international market, was seized by custom officials in two separate incidents at Chennai airport on Tuesday.
In the first incident, alert officials apprehended Riyaz Mohammad, 40, of Thondi in Ramanathapuram district, who concealed 6.6 kilograms of gold in his luggage. Riyaz was returning from Singapore, after visiting the Island nation on a tourist visa, by a Singapore airline flight that landed in Chennai at around 10 pm on Monday night.
Custom officials, on surveillance, spotted Riyaz and checked his belongings. Upon inspection of his suitcase, 14 gold bars worth well over Rs 2 crore and painted in black were found hidden in two secret compartments within the suitcase. The gold was seized and Riyaz arrested.
The initial seizure was followed by another incident that caused a little panic at around 3 am on Tuesday morning in the international arrival terminal of the airport. A black bag was found abandoned near the immigration hall of the terminal, which led to security officials immediately sounding out airport authorities.
A bomb squad was summoned and after a through search, it was cleared of any possible explosive material. Inside the bag however, was another 6.5 kgs of gold bars that were promptly handed over to custom officials.
With the aid of CCTV camera footages, an investigation is currently underway to trace the person who might have possibly dropped the gold, fearing strong surveillance in place at the airport.
( Source : dc correspondent )
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