More than 9 kg gold seized in Bengaluru's Kempegowda International Airport

Officials traced two suspects through the documents found in abandoned bags in the aircraft.

In two separate incidents, a total of 9 kg of gold was seized in Bengaluru airport by the Department of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) on Tuesday morning and two suspects reportedly smuggled the illegal gold from Thailand. The seized gold is valued at ₹6.29 crore.

More than 9 kg gold seized in Bengaluru's Kempegowda International Airport(Reuters Photo)

According to the report, DRI authorities got specific input that a syndicate would conceal gold inside an aircraft. In a statement, the officials said, “The officers of DRI Bengaluru rummaged through the Thai Airways flight from Bangkok, which landed at Bangalore International Airport. The rummaging resulted in recovery of 6.834 kg of gold in bar form and crude form concealed inside abandoned handbags in the aircraft.”

However, the officials traced two suspects through the documents found in abandoned bags. They also enquired and managed to detain the suspects, before they fled the airport. The reports also said that the suspects confirmed that the bags belonged to them and they smuggled the gold.

After a few hours, 2.18 kg of gold in bar form was recovered and seized by officers of the DRI on rummaging an Emirates flight that arrived from Dubai at the Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru. The contraband was concealed in the front lavatory of the aircraft. The government-certified assayer valued the gold at ₹1.52 crore.