BHUBANESWAR: The Income Tax (IT) Department officials on Tuesday detained a passenger who was carrying around three kgs of gold jewellery at the Biju Patnaik International Airport (BPIA) here.
The passenger, identified as Bhimraj Dewasi, was coming to the city from Mumbai in a private airline and was apprehended late in the afternoon.
Sources in the IT Department said, the sleuths were tipped about Dewasi possessing bullion beyond the permissible limits on a domestic flight. A Mumbai-based goldsmith, Dewasi had come here to supply gold ornaments to a jewellery outlet at Cuttack, the sources added.
Bhimraj was detained by the CISF after the unusual quantity of gold was detected by the baggage scanner in his carry-in luggage. Later, he was handed over to the IT officials who were present on the airport premises. The market price of the jewellery seized from the passenger would be around `90 lakh. Earlier, the IT Department had issued a countrywide alert to all the airports about movement of gold within cities following which vigilance was mounted at the city airport.