Gold weighing 1kg was found hidden inside a suitcase
Three kg of gold biscuits were seized from a passenger who arrived in Coimbatore from Sharjah by an Air Arabia flight on Friday. (Photo:DC)
Coimbatore: Three kg of gold biscuits were seized from a passenger on Friday morning when he had arrived here from Sharjah by an Air Arabia flight, said customs officials. The passenger had hidden three gold bars, each weighing 1 kg, in a suitcase. Customs officials said the 28-year-old passenger, T.K. Shamshad, from Kuthuparamba in Kannur district in Kerala state, was working in a textile shop in Kannur.
He used to travel to Dubai where his younger brother works. Officials said on September 4, Shamshad had gone to Dubai from Delhi to visit his younger brother. He was returning to Coimbatore airport from Sharjah on an Air Arabia flight early on Friday morning.
Around 4 am, he was intercepted by officials of the customs department who checked his luggage. They found three gold bars in the suitcase. The seized gold would be worth Rs 90 lakh, said the officials.During interrogation, Shamshad told the officials that he was approached by a person in Dubai and asked to transport the gold bars to Coimbatore. The person met him in a lodge and he was promised Rs 30,000 for the service. “We have approached customs officials in other airports in the country about any previous gold seizure from Shamshad,” said Mr D. Ranjith Kumar, deputy commissioner, Customs department.
Shamshad was booked under section 104 of the Customs Act and produced in the chief judicial magistrate’s court. He has been remanded in judicial custody for 15 days.
Further investigations are on.
( Source : dc correspondent )
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