CBI books two ex-customs officers, nine others for smuggling Rs 5.29 cr worth gold at Delhi airport

The case has been registered by the CBI following a complaint by the customs department regarding smuggling of 17.73 kg of foreign-origin gold, having a market value of Rs 5.29 crore, on the basis of a case of gold smuggling booked by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence DRI in 2018 at the Indira Gandhi International IGI airport, according to the CBI FIR.

The CBI has registered a corruption case against 11 people, including two former customs officers, for allegedly smuggling gold worth over Rs five crore at the international airport here.

Naveen Singh, former air customs superintendent, and Vivek Gehlot, the then air customs officer, have been mentioned as accused in the First Information Report (FIR). The case has been registered by the CBI following a complaint by the customs department regarding the smuggling of 17.73 kg of foreign-origin gold, having a market value of Rs 5.29 crore, based on a case of gold smuggling booked by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) in 2018 at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport, according to the CBI FIR. Giving details of the case, a customs department’s order, which was part of the FIR, said that there was a specific intelligence developed by the Delhi zonal unit of the DRI to the effect that a certain group of smugglers would attempt to illegally bring in foreign-origin gold while arriving at the IGI airport from abroad and that they would attempt to smuggle it with the help of two customs officers posted at the airport. The intelligence also suggested that clearance of the foreign-origin gold being carried by these smugglers would be facilitated at the IGI airport by the two customs officers namely Gehlout and Naveen Singh, it said.

On August 13, 2018, Gehlout, who was posted at the departure side of the IGI airport, New Delhi took the help of Singh, posted at x-ray machine scanning at the arrival hall of the airport “for facilitating seven passengers” who were illegally bringing in gold, the order alleged. On execution of the intelligence, the DRI kept surveillance of suspect passengers at IGI airport and upon their interception and examination of their baggage, a total quantity of 17.73 kgs of foreign-origin gold having a market value of Rs 5,29 crore was recovered from them, it said.

During the process of DRI investigation, Gehlout had admitted that he has been arranging meetings of smuggling operators in his flat at Lajpat Nagar in New Delhi, the order said. “They used separate and unauthorized mobile sim card provided by gold smuggling syndicate to facilitate fraudulent smuggling activity to be carried on mostly and in connivance with the smugglers and thereby defrauded the government exchequer. The conduct of both the said officers involves moral turpitude, unbecoming of government servant by misusing their official position,” it said. The customs order, dated July 20, 2021, recommended that Singh and Gehlout “be inquired or investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation for the offenses committed under the Prevention of Corruption Act and Indian Penal Code. Following this, the case was registered on September 16, 2021, by the CBI.

Both the officers were suspended on August 13, 2018, based on the incident report by the Delhi customs authority.

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