NEW DELHI: Five persons, including two Customs havildars and a contractual X-ray technician, were arrested by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) recently for allegedly facilitating gold smuggling through Chennai airport by manipulating body-scanning reports. All five have been remanded in judicial custody. The two other accused are Sri Lankan nationals from whom the agency recovered around 2.5 kg of 24-carat gold valued at nearly Rs 4 crore.
According to investigators, the racket came to light after the DRI received information about Customs personnel allegedly colluding with a smuggling network. Officials kept watch at the airport and intercepted two passengers who had arrived from Sri Lanka with gold concealed in paste form inside their rectums.
One of the havildars was allegedly caught while assisting the passengers. The probe subsequently led to the second havildar and the contractual X-ray technician. Investigators suspect that the havildars alerted each other about passengers carrying gold. Once a suspect was brought in for screening, a fabricated X-ray report was allegedly prepared to indicate that no contraband had been concealed inside the body, enabling the passenger to leave.