Kochi: The Air Intelligence Unit of the Cochin Customs at Nedumbassery International Airport will issue a notice to actor Kalabhavan Mani for allegedly misbehaving with officials when he was stopped for customs checking. Notice will be issued to ask the actor why the 181-gram gold bracelet, which he had left with the customs, should not be confiscated.
“Mani arrived at Nedumbassery airport from Kuwait in the wee hours of Sunday. During customs clearance we asked him if his bracelet was of gold. He got furious at the question, refused to answer, but left the bracelet with us,” the customs official said. The customs officer who frisked the actor has also lodged a complaint with the customs deputy commissioner.
However, the actor refuted the allegation saying he had not misbehaved with the customs sleuths. He said only 5.5 sovereigns of the bracelet was gold. The actor has also asked that the CCTV visuals at the airport be checked to see if he had misbehaved with the customs officials.
The customs officials said the 22-carat bracelet would be confiscated as it was worth Rs 5.13 lakh. “A male passenger is only allowed to bring gold worth Rs 50,000 while coming from abroad. The bracelet is worth more than that and hence can be confiscated. He should have received a clearance certificate while leaving India if he had the bracelet then,” said S.A.S. Navaz, Customs Deputy Commissioner.
