BENGALURU: Customs officials at Bengaluru airport have foiled a bid by a visually impaired male flyer to smuggle 3.99 kg of gold from Dubai by concealing it under his shirt. The value of the seized gold is worth around Rs 3.44 crore.
This is the second major gold seizure at the airport within a week. Actor Ranya Rao was caught in her bid to smuggle 14.8 kg of gold in the form of bars on her person and clothing from Dubai on March 3.
A senior Customs official told TNIE, “We received an alert about a visually impaired person bringing a huge quantity of gold with him. The individual was entering the airport on a wheelchair with an attender hired at the airport helping him move around when we intercepted him on March 4. He had arrived by an Emirates flight around 6 pm here.” His passport revealed many trips to Dubai within a short period.
The flyer, in his thirties, had smuggled the gold in the form of multiple chains. He was accompanied by a business partner.
“We are still interrogating his partner to find out if he was also involved in the gold smuggling.”
The yellow metal has been seized and a case has been booked.