Air India staffer held with Rs 1.34 crore worth gold
HYDERABAD: An employee of Air India, who was found to be part of a nexus involved in gold smuggling, was nabbed by the sleuths of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) Hyderabad unit on Tuesday. The two others who were receiving the smuggled gold from him were also nabbed.
Gold bars weighing 4.194 kg (worth approximately Rs1.34 crore) that were smuggled from Dubai and Rs 3.60 lakh cash, that was to be paid to the Air India employee as his commission, were seized from their possession. However, the arrest of the trio has not been officiated yet.
The Air India staffer, aged around 50 and belonging to Hyderabad, is a permanent employee with the Air India SATS, say sources. He collected the gold from the Air India AI 952 flight from Dubai, which landed at RGI airport around 6 am on Tuesday.
He exited from the airport and drove towards Novotel Hotel, around 3 km from the airport. Near the hotel, when he met the two other suspects, DRI sleuths caught the trio red-handed with gold and cash.
On inquiry, the employee revealed that he collected the gold from the airport, as per the instructions from his Dubai-based handlers and was passing it on to the other suspects in the city. Officials said the suspects will be arrested and produced before the court.