Man in wheelchair tried to smuggle in liquor too

A day after wheelchair-bound Champalal Jain, 58, was caught at the international airport for trying to smuggle in 45 high-end watches worth Rs7 lakh, the customs authorities said they also found foreign liquor and cigarettes in his baggage.

A day after wheelchair-bound Champalal Jain, 58, was caught at the international airport for trying to smuggle in 45 high-end watches worth Rs7 lakh, the customs authorities said they also found foreign liquor and cigarettes in his baggage.

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They authorities seized six bottles of Black Label and six cartons of Benson & Hedges cigarettes. Each carton holds 10 cigarette packs.

Customs officials caught Jain on Tuesday morning after he arrived from Dubai at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International airport as was crossing the green channel after noticing the Rolex watch on his wrist. On checking his bag, they found several watches of various brands such as Rolex, Kolber, Cartier, Seiko, Omega and Franck Muller. They also found the liquor bottles and the cigarette cartons.

Jain was allowed to go in the evening the officials recorded his statement and seized the watches, liquor and cigarettes.

The authorities found that Jain was acute diabetic and is undergoing dialysis. "Despite severe illness he seemed to believe in enjoying life," a senior customs official said, requesting anonymity.

"After learning that we found the smuggled goods, he immediately agreed to pay the entire duty and fine," the official said, adding that Jain did not show any signs of nervousness.

"When we questioned him about the Rolex, he said it was a gift and asked us to find the cost if we wanted to, claiming that he was not aware of the same," the official said.

Jain also kept changing his statement to dodge the customs authorities.

Though he was allowed to go, the customs would initiate prosecution proceedings against him and adjudicate him to levy a fine.