Gold pieces weighing 1.75kg, worth ₹56 lakh, found hidden in lavatories of IndiGo aircraft

Amandeep Singh, additional commissioner customs, said the gold was recovered early Tuesday by the airline’s security staff when they were sweeping it.

Customs officials at the Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International airport recovered 30 pieces of gold, weighing over a kilo, hidden behind the mirrors inside three lavatories of an IndiGo aircraft on Tuesday.

Police said the gold pieces were wrapped in black and brown adhesive tapes and hidden behind the mirrors in the lavatories—one in the front of the aircraft and two at the rear. (Getty Images / Representative Photo)

Officials believe the gold was hidden in the lavatories on Sunday when the aircraft arrived in Bengaluru from Dubai.

Amandeep Singh, additional commissioner customs, said the gold was recovered early Tuesday by the airline’s security staff when they were sweeping it.

Singh said the gold pieces were wrapped in black and brown adhesive tapes and hidden behind the mirrors in the lavatories—one in the front of the aircraft and two at the rear.

“The total recovered gold weighs 1.75kgs and is worth ₹56.26 lakh. The gold bars bear the mark ‘Dubai/UAE’, indicating its place of origin,” the additional commissioner said.

Deputy commissioner Kalrav Mishra said the aircraft landed in Bengaluru from Dubai on Sunday. Later, it went to Colombo and from there to Chennai and then to Pune.

“We suspect that the gold was smuggled from Dubai. We are probing the matter but since there are no CCTV cameras in the aircraft, we are yet to identify the smuggler,” he said.

No response was forthcoming from the management of IndiGo airlines.