Gold worth over Rs33L seized at Delhi airport, one held

New Delhi, Feb 8 (IANS) About 699 grams of gold, valued at over Rs 33 lakh, was seized from a passenger who was trying to smuggle it in at the Delhi airport, the Customs Department said on Tuesday.

Acting on a tip-off, the passenger from Dubai was intercepted at Terminal 3 and on checking, the gold concealed in iron was seized, an official of the department said.

The accused had arrived from Dubai on February 6 and he was intercepted after he had crossed the green channel, the official further said.

"On detailed X-ray examination of baggage, suspicious image in one iron was observed. Dismantling the iron resulted in recovery of one grey colour coated gold piece weighing 699 grams and having tariff value of Rs 33,50,237," the official added.

When asked about the gold, he could not give any satisfactory reply and failed to show any documents to prove that the yellow metal was not being smuggled.

The recovered gold was seized under Section 110 of the Customs Act and the accused was arrested under Section 104 of the Customs Act.

He was taken to a nearby government hospital where he underwent a medical test. His Covid report was negative.

Later, he was produced before a court. The Customs official told the court that he was not required for further interrogation.

The Customs official requested the court to send him to judicial custody. The court after hearing their contention allowed their move and remanded the accused to 14 days judicial custody.

The official said that further investigation in the matter was underway.