Bid to smuggle gold foiled at Cochin International Airport
Two passengers who flew in from Dubai on Thursday were arrested.
Kochi: The Air Intelligence Unit officers of the Customs at the Cochin International Airport has foiled a bid to smuggle in gold in powdered form and seized 925 grams of the yellow metal valued at Rs 29 lakh.
Two passengers who flew in from Dubai on Thursday were arrested.
“The gold seized was in powdered form converted into a semi-solid compound paste. The duo had concealed the said paste in the waste belt worn by them,” Customs Commissioner Sumit Kumar said.
With the Customs intensifying checks at the airport and deploying more personnel, the smugglers have been adopting clever ways to smuggle gold like body concealment, deep concealment in motors etc.
“But with these tactics failing, now they have resorted to neo-age alchemy. But the Intelligence officers have risen up to the challenge and continue to foil the smuggling attempts,” the officer said.
Meanwhile, another gold smuggling bid was foiled at the Calicut airport when the Customs sleths seized 10 gold bars hidden inside the battery of a search light. The seized gold is valued at Rs 42 lakh. A passenger who flew in from Riyadh by an Air India Express flight was taken into custody and later released on bail.
Man held in visa cheating case
The Kochi Police on Friday arrested an Uttar Pradesh native for allegedly duping job aspirants of lakhs of rupees by doling out false promises of job visa and study visa in Singapore.
The arrested was identified as Ravi Singh Tomar.
According to cops, the accused used to circulate ads on job offers through social media including WhatsApp and Facebook. “Tomar is a history sheeter and have several pending cases against him in the state,” police said.
Two Assamese natives held for theft
The Kochi Police on Friday arrested two Assam natives for allegedly stealing three laptops, seven mobile phones and Rs 25,000 from an establishment in Kalamassery where they were working.
The accused were identified as Pranjal Bora (30) and Nilaman Ranjbhongshi (23).
According to cops, the duo was working at the establishment for one year. “They broke into the office on March 7 night and stole the valuables just days before their scheduled return to home for vacation. However, the act was caught on CCTV and we arrested them from Erode while they were attempting to flee to Assam,” police said.