ICC official detained at airport

The airport customs officials on Monday detained an operations manager of the International Cricket Council (ICC) for carrying Rs1 lakh cash.

The airport customs officials on Monday detained an operations manager of the International Cricket Council (ICC) for carrying Rs1 lakh cash.

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J Patel, an NRI, was boarding a Kingfisher Airlines flight to London when customs officials at the international airport stopped him. On checking his trolley bag, they found currency in denominations of Rs500 and Rs1,000, totalling to Rs1 lakh.

“The currency was seized as export of Indian currency is banned,” a senior customs official said. A passenger can carry only up to Rs7,500 cash.

Patel was booked under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) and the Customs Act. He was not arrested, as the amount was below Rs5 lakh, for which arrest is not mandatory. “He was asked to stay in Mumbai, as we have started adjudication proceedings against him to levy penalty,” the official said.

He added that the adjudication proceedings would be completed within a day and Patel would be penalised under the FEMA. The customs officials detained Patel till around 9pm.

In his statement, Patel said he was unaware about rules on carrying currency.