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Gold smuggling bust sparks political row
The DMK accused a Chennai-based BJP functionary allegedly associated with Vidvedaa and close to the party’s state and national leaders of playing a role in the smuggling
A political controversy has erupted between the DMK and BJP following the busting of gold smuggling syndicate in the Chennai International airport. The case involves the arrest of nine individuals for smuggling 267kg of gold worth ₹167 crore.
The DMK accused a Chennai-based BJP functionary allegedly associated with Vidvedaa and close to the party’s state and national leaders of playing a role in the smuggling. “Skeletons will come tumbling down the closet soon,’’ said DMK spokesperson A Saravanan.
Responding to the allegations, a senior BJP leader not wishing to be named dismissed charges that state president K Annamalai knew him. “There is no clarity on the complaint here. The BJP functionary who is being named is no longer with the party,” the leader said.
The syndicate began with the Air Intelligence Unit in Chennai searching and interrogating a sales executive of a shop named Airhub, located in the transit-departure area of Anna International Airport. The shop owner who is among those arrested is a YouTuber, Mohammed Sabir Ali. During the search, three bundles containing gold in the form of paste were found concealed in his rectum. He had received gold from a Sri Lankan national, a transit passenger in the Chennai airport.
“Further enquiry revealed that smugglers based in Sri Lanka had rented the Airhub shop in International Departure of Anna International Airport through Sabir Ali, a Youtuber by entering into contract with Vidvedaa PRG,” the principal commissioner of customs, Srinivasa Naik said. Vidvedaa is a third party agency roped in by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) to manage commercial spaces within the airport, a senior official said.
The Lankan transit passenger who handed over the gold, along with the shop owner Ali and seven other staff of the shop, were arrested, remanded and sent to judicial custody on June 29.
“All the seven employees admitted before the Judicial Magistrate that they have been smuggling gold for the last two months,” said a senior official of the Customs department on condition of anonymity,” Naik said.
“The smuggling syndicate recruited a total of eight people to receive gold in paste form at the shop or in the toilets located in the departure area from transit passengers. These individuals would then conceal the gold in their rectums and smuggle it out of the airport,” Naik added.
