NEW DELHI: Police blame corrupt customs officials for stealing at least 89 kg of gold worth more than `26 crore that has mysteriously vanished from Delhi airport’s strong room in the last three years. The figure could soar further since many more sealed packets were yet to be opened.
Confiscated gold bars and ornaments are kept in sealed packets. But when the police opened those recently, they were shocked to find scrap metal inside. A police investigation report hinted that top customs officials of the airport who are supposed to auction confiscated gold didn’t do their job.
“Officials who allegedly stole gold did the job professionally. They took out the gold, replaced it with some scrap, and then sealed it exactly the same way it was initially packed. Someone might have replaced the gold with scrap and sealed it, or, the job was done after court,” said a senior police official.
The matter of missing gold came to light during an audit when the customs officials weighed the confiscated gold packets and found that their weights were different. When they opened the packets, the gold had been replaced with other metal. This led the officials to file a case with Delhi Police.
“The room where the gold packets were kept needs a combination of two keys to be opened,” a senior police official said.
The room is in the basement of Terminal 3, above the ceremonial lounge, where they installed CCTV cameras recently. “Earlier, three men and a senior officer were responsible for keeping a watch on that room. Whenever gold is confiscated, officials need to produce the seizure in court. When we wanted the names of the customs officials, they provided a list without proper details,” an official said.
Investigators claim that against rules, top officials didn’t submit the seized gold bars to the SBI.