07 November,2014 07:03 AM IST | | Neha LM Tripathi
Acting on a tip-off, the Air Intelligence Unit (AIU) of Mumbai Customs caught two passengers, Karamvir Sirohi and Sanjeev Kumar, smuggling gold in the wee hours of Wednesday
Acting on a tip-off, the Air Intelligence Unit (AIU) of Mumbai Customs caught two passengers smuggling gold in the wee hours of Wednesday. Karamvir Sirohi landed from Dubai and was heading to Kathmandu. His partner in crime, Sanjeev Kumar, was going to Delhi from where the plane was to take off to Shanghai.
The belt tightens: After AIU officials found 4 kg of the yellow metal concealed as wires inside the eyelets of the belts and hats, they arrested the two men who had exchanged the bag
Both met briefly in T2's transit area, where Sirohi shiftily handed the bag he was carrying to Kumar. Officials intercepted the exchange and upon inspecting the bag, found that it contained gold wires, which were cleverly concealed inside the eyelets of 46 belts and two caps. The estimated value of the gold 4 kg is Rs 1.2 crore.
An AIU official said, "On receiving specific information, the officials were tailing the two passengers and intercepted them as soon as they exchanged their bags. They were arrested. We suspect many more such cases until New Year, even more than those reported last year." Sirohi and Kumar are lodged at Arthur Road jail and officials are investigating if they carried out similar operations in the past.
