Chennai: In a major haul, sleuths of Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) recovered 6.5 kg of gold worth Rs 2 crore from an aeroplane at the Chennai airport on Monday morning.
DRI officials received a tip-off that a flight arriving from Delhi was smuggling gold and were prepared for it to land at 11 am.
Luggage of all passengers on the flight was checked after they disembarked but nothing was found. They then acquired permission from the airport authorities to check aboard the flight, officials said.
The officials then went on to search on the flight, where they found gold bars hidden under two seats of the aircraft. Six gold bars were wrapped in brown bags and hidden under the seat, they said.
The flight started from Dubai, landed at Delhi and then came from there as a domestic flight, smugglers may have left it on the flight, DRI officials believe. The smugglers may have come to know of checks being conducted at by DRI in Delhi, they said.
Officials seized the gold bars weighing 6.5 kg, which's market value is estimated at Rs 2 crore. DRI officials along with the customs department and airport police are conducting investigations based on CCTV camera footages recovered from the aircraft and the airport to identify the smugglers. DRI officials say that they have identified two possible suspects and will make arrests soon.
The incidents of gold smuggling seem to be increasing at the Chennai airport. The incident comes only a day after a total of 1.75 kg of gold, worth over Rs 53 lakh was seized from passengers aboard three flights arriving at the Chennai international airport on a single day.
