Customs seizes gold biscuits hidden under seat of AI's Dubai-Indore flight; 1 held

Gold biscuits weighing over 1,200 gm with an estimated cost of Rs 65 lakh were recovered from beneath a seat of Air Indias Dubai-Indore flight and a suspected smuggler was arrested, a Customs official said on Monday.

Gold biscuits weighing over 1,200 gm with an estimated cost of Rs 65 lakh were recovered from beneath a seat of Air India's Dubai-Indore flight and a suspected smuggler was arrested, a Customs official said on Monday. The consignment of gold bore a foreign country seal, he said, adding that the arrested smuggler was travelling in the same flight disguised as a passenger. The accused, identified as Deepchand (50), had placed the consignment of gold biscuits hidden under a seat, the official said.

He was arrested at the Devi Ahilyabai Holkar international airport in Indore on Saturday night.

The accused is a resident of the Jhunjunu district in Rajasthan. The Customs department's Air Intelligence Unit nabbed him on suspicion and exposed the international smuggling network, the official said.

Air India's international flight AI 904 arrives from Dubai to Indore every Saturday and after a layover of one-and-a-half hours, the same flight flies to Delhi. Taking advantage of his procedure, Deepchand hid the gold biscuits weighing 1.233 kg under the seat.

He was supposed to hand over the gold biscuits to a person in Delhi.

The investigation is underway.