CHENNAI: With the alleged involvement of security and ground handling personnel in two cases of gold smuggling in the past 24 hours, enforcement personnel are re-evaluating their options on how to stem the rot. “Staff will be rotated and post-flight checking will be intensified as this problem is getting worse. We are working on intelligence gathering to stop this,” said a customs official.
Tuesday night’s incident was compelling enough — Siddique Ali, a courier who had brought 4.1 kg of gold from Singapore, tried to rush past the customs counter in an agitated state. Sources added that when they stopped him and made enquiries, the panic-stricken man alleged that he had handed over the bag with gold over to a contact near the immigration desk. “Officials reviewed some CCTV footage and are believed to have seen the gold handed over to a police official on deputation with the Bureau of Immigration. He was seen handing it over to another policeman on deputation. Both of them were taken for questioning along with the courier,” said an airport police source.
The DRI was brought in to probe the matter, as they were waiting to pouch another smuggler — a lady who flew in on a Gulf Airlines flight with 4.6 kg of gold in her suitcase. She was believed to have handed over the gold over to an employee of a ground handling company to safely cart it out of the airport. Unfortunately for them, the DRI team caught them in the act and are working towards an arrest.
The timing suggests that this is no longer an uncommon occurrence. Just over a month ago, another constable with the TSP on deputation with the immigration department was implicated in a gold smuggling case. Two months ago, a CISF official was found with contraband and placed under investigation for his involvement in gold smuggling.