On April 3, 29 gold smugglers managed to escape the custody of customs officials at the Lucknow airport. Even almost 50 days after the incident, the officials have not been able to apprehend them.
Even as they’ve so far kept mum over the issue, numerous attempts to speak to senior officials in the department by this reporter went in vain.
Meanwhile, sources in the department were of the opinion that such an escape wasn’t possible without the involvement of some airport staff.
Amid numerous suspicions, what officials know for certain is that while 28 of them hail from Rampur’s Tanda village, one smuggler is from Uttarakhand, and all of them know each other well.
While the department has maintained strict secrecy regarding the investigation in the case, the escape of these 29 men was caught on CCTV cameras of the airport.
Criticising the lack of transparency within the department, insiders said there has been a notable uptick in the smuggling of gold and contraband.
Opting to stay anonymous, they said there has been a staggering six-fold increase in gold seizures during the 2023-2024 period in Uttar Pradesh. Smuggled gold items weighing about 140 kg were recovered at Lucknow, Varanasi and a few other airports in the state by different agencies including customs in the said period, they said.
{{/usCountry}}Opting to stay anonymous, they said there has been a staggering six-fold increase in gold seizures during the 2023-2024 period in Uttar Pradesh. Smuggled gold items weighing about 140 kg were recovered at Lucknow, Varanasi and a few other airports in the state by different agencies including customs in the said period, they said.
{{/usCountry}}“This rise in seizures is accompanied by an increase in the trafficking of foreign cigarettes, with approximately ₹15 crore worth of contraband intercepted across Uttar Pradesh. Smugglers chose airports of the state because of inability of customs officials to catch them,” they remarked.
The customs officials attributed the spike in gold seizures to heightened scrutiny on cash transactions, prompting illicit dealers to resort to alternative means of settlement, with gold emerging as a preferred medium for Hawala transactions.
Sarojini Nagar station house officer Shailendra Giri, meanwhile, hinted that it was possible that these 29 smugglers had surrendered before a court and got bail. “It’s up to the customs department to come out with the details.”