Gold worth Rs 1.38crore hidden in trolley bags seized at airport

PUNE: Over 4.5kg of gold worth Rs1.38 crore was seized from four passengers at the city airport in wee hours of Friday. The suspects flew in from Abu Dhabi in a Jet Airways flight (9W513).
They had hidden the gold in the outlining of their trolley bags, inside the body of a hair straightener and in a mini transformer. A total of 4,687.14 grams of precious metal were seized from them in one of the biggest hauls in the city airport.
Personal search and detailed examination of the four suspects — Rafatjahan Shaukat Ali, Asif Khan, Mohammed Ashfaq Mohhamed Quasim and Husain Sayed Ahmed — after they landed at the airport resulted in the recovery of the gold, a customs official said.
“The woman passenger, upon her arrival, was searched thoroughly. Her baggage was checked and gold weighing 2,467.87 grams, comprising four rhodium-plated gold wires, three gold biscuits, an oval-shaped raw gold and an embroiled gold wire, hidden inside her trolley bag and personal belongings was recovered,” the official said.
The belongings of Asif were also checked identically.
“Six rhodium-plated gold biscuits, three rhodium-plated gold bars and two rhodium-plated gold wires were recovered. The total weight of the gold recovered from him was 1,674.62 grams. The items were hidden in the supporting casing and handles of the trolley bag, the body of a hair straightener and a mini transformer,” the official added.
A total of 233.44 grams of gold were recovered from the belongings of Ashfaq.
“Five rhodium-plated gold wires were recovered from him. They were concealed inside the outer lining of his trolley bag,” the customs officer said.
From Husain, two rhodium-plated gold wires weighing 311.31 grams were recovered. They were concealed inside the outer lining of his trolley bag.
The customs official said, “The statements of the four passengers were recorded. They admitted that they were carrying the gold. Further investigations into the case are on and more layers of the case might open.”
Another customs official said the recovered gold was seized under the reasonable belief that it was an attempt to smuggle the metal into the country.
“The entire operation was monitored and conducted by senior officers of the department, Bharat Nawale and Maneesh Dudpuri,” the official added.