1.8 kg gold bar found under passenger seat on Dubai flight at Chandigarh airport

Estimated to be worth ₹92 lakh, the gold, forged in the form of a U-shaped bar, was concealed in a black plastic shell and affixed under a passenger seat using a Velcro strap, said customs officials

Customs officials found 1.8 kg gold concealed under a passenger seat on the Dubai flight that landed at the Chandigarh International Airport on Wednesday evening.

The U-shaped gold bar was affixed under a passenger seat using a Velcro strap. (HT Photo)

Estimated to be worth ₹92 lakh, the gold, forged in the form of a U-shaped bar, was concealed in a black plastic shell and affixed under a passenger seat using a Velcro strap.

The customs staff said they had specific information about gold being smuggled into India and on checking the seats on the Indigo 6E-56 flight from Dubai, they found 1.8 kg gold concealed under a seat. The passenger occupying the seat was questioned, but expressed ignorance about the gold, which was subsequently seized under the Customs Act.

Vrindaba Gohil, commissioner of customs, Ludhiana, said the gold, weighing 1.80 kg, was 99.49% pure. She said the Ludhiana customs staff deployed at the Chandigarh International Airport was closely monitoring smuggling activities.

Currently, the airport catered to nine weekly flights to and from Dubai and Sharjah, and the customs officers, through their alertness and agility, had thwarted several such attempts of smuggling of gold and other contrabands, Gohil said.