MP: Man nabbed at airport with smuggled gold worth lakhs

A 36-year-old man travelling from Dubai was arrested at Devi Ahilyabai Holkar International

Airport here for allegedly smuggling 696 gm of gold hidden inside a hammer, an official said on Thursday.

The smuggled metal is worth Rs 30 lakh as per the current market rate, he added.

Air India's Dubai-Indore flight (AI 904) landed at the airport in the intervening night of Tuesday and Wednesday,

Customs Department's joint commissioner Devesh Gupta said. Officials intercepted a passenger who was carrying a

hammer weighing 1.4 kg in his luggage, he said. When questioned about the presence of the hammer, the

accused, hailing from Uttar Pradesh's Lucknow city, claimed that he was a labourer, he said

"Our officers cut the hammer with a saw and found a yellow layer and on cutting further, they discovered a hollow

space in which 696 gm of gold was hidden," Gupta said. The customs department is probing the involvement of

an international smuggling racket in this case, he added.