1 kg gold, cigarettes worth Rs 36,000 seized at Chennai airport

During the watch, officials noticed K Murali, 32, who was working as Supervisor in Creators Engineering, a firm doing civil work for airport authority, coming from the immigration portion.

CHENNAI : The Customs officials of the Air Intelligence Unit, foiled a bid to smuggle 1 kg gold worth `32 lakh and nabbed a passenger and a private employee working in an agency in Chennai Airport.The incident occurred on Wednesday when Air Intelligence Unit maintained a strict vigil after being tipped off that gold was likely to be smuggled from Dubai through Emirates Flight EK 546. 

During the watch, officials noticed K Murali, 32, who was working as Supervisor in Creators Engineering, a firm doing civil work for airport authority, coming from the immigration portion. He was walking in a suspicious manner and barged into the gents toilet in Customs Arrival hall and took an unusually long time. Smelling something fishy, the officials quizzed him and found him to be evasive and nervous.

On questioning, he revealed that he had hidden two packets in the toilet in arrival hall, which he received from a passenger arriving by Emirates flight. He was to hand over the same packets to the passenger outside the airport. 

The passenger, Rahuman Khan, 29, was apprehended while he was trying to cross the exit gate. During search of his person and baggage, one gold bit of 27 grams and 15 cartons of Gudang Garam cigarettes, worth `36,000, were recovered. The hidden packets which were covered in black adhesive tape, were recovered from the toilet. On cutting open the packets, nine gold bars weighing 100 grams each, and one gold cut bit weighing 73 grams, were recovered.

Man detained for inquiry flees
Chennai: A 25-year-old man who was taken for inquiry in connection with alleged smuggling of red sanders escaped at Tiruvallur on Thursday night. Police said K Elumalai of Tiruvannamalai was being taken on a two-wheeler to Podatturpet police station and when they reached the station, the suspect escaped. 

Valuables stolen from car
Chennai: Miscreants broke the car window of an ISRO general manager and stole three-sovereigns gold, a laptop, ATM cards and documents near Alandur on Thursday afternoon. Nagaraj parked the car on GST Road and had gone for lunch. When he returned he found the car window broken and the valuables missing, said a police officer. 

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