Four held for smuggling, gold worth Rs 78 lakh seized

Continuing their crackdown on smugglers, customs officials arrested four people in two different operations and recovered gold bars worth Rs 78 lakh.

Continuing their crackdown on smugglers, customs officials arrested four people in two different operations and recovered gold bars worth Rs 78 lakh.

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In the first incident, a man who had concealed gold bars on his person was arrested and one kg of gold bars were recovered from him. On Wednesday evening, a passenger identified as Sanjay Kumar was stopped for checking after he crossed the green channel. Kumar, a resident of Paschim Vihar, had arrived on a Thai Air flight from Bangkok.

"On detailed examination of his baggage and personal search, nothing objectionable was found initially. After he showed some sign of nervousness, he was taken to Safdarjung Hospital for X-ray of his body. In the X-ray, some object was noticed in his lower abdomen," said a senior customs official.

The customs official then removed the object from his body with the help of doctors. Six rectangular gold bars, collectively weighing one kg were recovered from his body. "Kumar was arrested and gold was seized under the Customs Act," the official added.

In another incident, two passengers coming from Bangkok by were intercepted. They were carrying two LED TVs and two stands. Gold bars were concealed in the TV stand.