BHUBANESWAR: Customs officials intercepted a passenger at Biju Patnaik International Airport (BPIA) here and recovered smuggled gold items worth `9.83 lakh from him. Acting on a tip-off, Customs Air Intelligence Unit officers intercepted the passenger, hailing from Kolkata, on Thursday after he arrived at the City airport from Bangkok by an Air Asia flight.
On conducting his personal search, the officers recovered silver coated metal rings made from foreign origin gold. The man had concealed the rings in the buttons of his garments. “Around 283.240 gram of gold was seized from him. Further investigation is on,” a Customs official said.