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Gold worth ₹3.4 crore seized at ICP Attari, Amritsar airport
Gold worth ₹3.47 crore was seized from various passengers at Attari Integrated Check Post (ICP) and Sri Guru Ram Dass Jee International Airport in Amritsar, Customs officials said on Tuesday.
Gold worth ₹3.47 crore was seized from various passengers at Attari Integrated Check Post (ICP) and Sri Guru Ram Dass Jee International Airport in Amritsar, Customs officials said on Tuesday.
The Attari ICP facilitates the movement of passengers from India to Pakistan and vice-versa, besides clearing the import and export between India and Afghanistan via Pakistan.
A customs spokesperson said, “The officers of Amritsar customs at ICP Attari intercepted various passengers coming from Pakistan on foot through the Indo-Pak Border and recovered 2552.39 grams of 24-carat gold valued at ₹1.52 crores in six different cases. The gold was worn by the various passengers in raw form in rings, broken bangles and chains.”
Sources said six Pakistani Hindus, who were on religious tour, were found to be in possession of the gold.
This is seen as a new trend of smuggling via the land route between India and Pakistan. “Since my posting, I have not seen such a case of gold smuggling from the neighbouring country in the last year. Gold used to be smuggled via the land route around 50-60 years ago. I don’t think gold was smuggled via the border in recent years. This can be a new trend of smuggling,” said a senior customs official who wished not to be identified.
The motivation behind this smuggling appears to earn profit by taking advantage of the price difference between Pakistan and India, the official said.
Disclosing about the second seizure, the spokesperson said, “Our officers intercepted various passengers coming from Dubai and Sharjah by Spicejet, Air Express flights and recovered 3.40kg of 24-carat gold valued at ₹1.95 crore in 13 different cases. The gold was concealed in the bottle cap of a water bottle, beneath the luggage trolley, zip-lining of jeans pants, swallowing of gold coins by the passengers, in the undergarments, rectum concealment.”
The gold was seized as per provisions of the Customs Act, 1962.
Legally, female and male individuals entering India from abroad are allowed to bring in 40 grams and 20 grams of gold, respectively, with values not exceeding ₹1 lakh and ₹50,000. Any gold exceeding these limits is subject to confiscation under the Customs Act.
