BENGALURU: Three Bengaluru-based Customs and Goods and Service Tax (GST) officials are reportedly in the dock for helping smugglers bring gold from Dubai in paste form. The Central Bureau of Investigation has booked them and charged them with helping international passengers smuggle gold paste, hidden in their waist belts on October 14, 2018. The gold was seized by Directorate of Revenue Intelligence officials and amounted to 11 kilos, costing Rs. 3.67 crore at the time.
In order to smuggle the gold, it was powdered and mixed with substances to make it into a paste form. It is alleged that Superintendent of Central Taxes, GST, Rajnish Kumar Saroh, a former Customs Inspector Sudarshan Kumar and airport customs air intelligence unit inspector Shiv Kumar Meena, were hand in glove with the smugglers.
According to CBI officials, Saroh made a deal with smugglers based in West Asia to smooth the customs process for the carriers. The trio were allegedly also working with NT Jamsheer, the owner of Best Way Super Market in Bengaluru, who officials said was in contact with smugglers and investors in Dubai.
Saroh used to receive Rs 75,000 from Jamsheer while Rs 15,000 was being paid to Sudarshan Kumar and Meena for each carrier. The smugglers selected names of passengers which were then cleared by Saroh as not being on any watch list. The smugglers would then approach these passengers and details of the carriers were then sent to Jamsheer who passed them on to Saroh, officials said. He also used the services of Sudarshan Kumar from August, 2017 to August, 2018 and thereafter that of Shiv Kumar Meena in the conspiracy, the CBI FIR stated.