Gold worth ₹48 lakh recovered from two passengers at Varanasi airport

Custom officials recovered gold worth ₹48 lakh from two passengers at Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport in Varanasi on Sunday

Custom officials recovered gold worth ₹48 lakh from two passengers at Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport in Varanasi on Sunday.

The passengers were intercepted by custom officials on suspicion. (pic for representation)

The passengers brought the gold from Sharjah by hiding it in their shoes, said the officials.

The officials said that on suspicion, two passengers, who had returned from Sharjah, were checked. Officials said that passenger Krishna Kumar of Patna had made a special box in his shoes. When the sole was separated from the shoe, 395.400 grams gold was recovered. Its estimated price is about ₹21 lakh 35 thousand rupees ( ₹21.35 lakh).

Another passenger, Harendra Prasad, a resident of Kushinagar, also brought gold by hiding it in his shoes. Around 495 grams of gold was recovered from him. Its estimated price is about ₹26 lakh 76 thousand ( ₹26.76 lakh).

A senior official of the custom said that action has been taken under the Customs Act by confiscating the gold recovered from the two passengers. Later they were produced in the court of chief judicial magistrate and from there, both were sent to jail. Further investigation is on, he said.