Mangaluru: In another case of smuggling gold, the officers of customs, Mangaluru International Airport seized about 2 kg of gold valued at around Rs 53 lac from a passenger who arrived from Dubai.
On a reasonable suspicion, the officers enquired with a passenger as to whether he possessed any dutiable items to be declared to customs. As the passenger could not provide satisfactory reply and was incoherent while responding to the officers, his baggage was subjected to detailed examination.
The examination resulted in detection of an object coated with black metallic paint and moulded in the form of heating coil ingeniously concealed inside an iron box carried by him. The gold assayer has confirmed the object as that of pure gold of 24 carat.
On interrogation, the passenger deposed that he intentionally concealed the gold object to avoid detection by customs and to evade payment of appropriate duties of customs. As the gold object was smuggled into India in contravention of the provisions of the Customs Act, 1962 read with the Baggage Rules, 1998, the same weighing about 2 kg and valued at around Rs 53 lac was seized.
The passenger was arrested and produced before the principal civil judge (senior division) and chief judicial magistrate, Mangaluru who remanded him.
