Gold worth Rs 47.55 lakh hidden under bandages seized at Hyderabad airport

Hyderabad, Jan 11 (IANS) The Customs officials at Hyderabad's Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) have seized 970 gram of gold in paste form from a passenger who had concealed it in the bandages tied to calves of both the legs.

The gold valued at Rs 47.55 lakh was seized from a male passenger who arrived from Sharjah on Sunday. A case of gold smuggling has been booked against the passenger.

On Monday, the Customs officials booked a case of gold smuggling against another passenger who arrived from Dubai.

The officials recovered 442.6 gram of gold valued at Rs 21.70 lakh. The gold in paste form was concealed inside a specially stitched pocket of underwear.

The officials have been detecting cases of passengers finding innovative ways to smuggle the gold.

On January 7, they seized 330 grams of gold wires with white rhodium coating polish valued at Rs 16.18 lakh from a male passenger who arrived from Dubai. The gold was concealed inside the metal frame of trolley bag.

The sleuths of Customs department on December 30 had detected a case of gold smuggling by a passenger who arrived from Sharjah. He had concealed gold in paste form in the specially stitched strips inside the trouser. The 234.05 grams of gold valued at Rs 11.54 lakhs was recovered and seized.

In another case, two passengers smuggled gold by concealing it inside magnetic bracelets and buttons of kids' garments.

The passengers who arrived from Dubai were carrying 412 grams of gold valued at Rs 20.49 lakh.