Customs arrest man in possession of high-end watch, priced around Rs 18 lakh, which is made exclusively from the scrap of Titanic.
The Air Intelligence Unit (AIU) of Mumbai airport Customs intercepted and arrested a smuggler in possession of a high-value watch made exclusively from with the scrap of Titanic, the famous British passenger liner that sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on 15 April 1912.
The Deputy Commisioner of AIU, Sameer Wankhede, intercepted 52-year-old Ansar Danda, a resident of Bhatkal in Karnataka, minutes after his arrival from Dubai on flight EK 502. During screening, the watch, which is a high-end German brand was recovered from the Danda's pocket.
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"The watch recovered is a high-end brand and is more valuable because it is made from scraps of Titanic and can fetch a big bucks," a customs official told MiD DAY.
A handout picture from Southampton City Council shows the Titanic leaving Southampton on her ill-fated maiden voyage on April 10, 1912. Pic/AFP
Officials also confirmed that Danda is a hard-core smuggler and had been previously dealing in gold before shifting to smuggling high-end watches. "He tried to mislead the officials by giving a wrong profile. But when we did a background check, we found that he had been earlier booked in several cases of gold smuggling. He was carrying this watch to sell it at a higher price and the deal was likely to happen in Mumbai itself," officials further revealed.
The estimated value of watch is over Rs 18 lakh.
The customs has seized the watch and booked Danda under different provisions of Indian Customs Act including section 77, 111 and 104. Danda was later granted bail.
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