Passenger Held With Rs 1.47 Cr Gold Hidden in Delhi Airport Washroom

A Bangladeshi transit passenger was arrested at the Delhi airport after Customs officials seized gold worth about Rs 1.47 crore that he had allegedly concealed inside a washroom's flush-button cavity, officials said on Tuesday.

Acting on specific intelligence, Customs officers intercepted the passenger, who had arrived from Dubai on June 26 and was in transit through the airport on June 27. A case of gold smuggling has been registered against him, according to an official statement.

The passenger was identified at the international transfers area on the basis of his "suspicious transit



travel pattern" and was kept under discreet surveillance before being intercepted outside a washroom in the departure area, the statement said. 

During questioning, the passenger disclosed that he had concealed "three oval-shaped yellow-coloured pouches, wrapped inside a dark blue sock, in the flush-button cavity of the washroom", it said.

Acting on the passenger's disclosure, officers recovered the concealed pouches from the indicated location at the Indira Gandhi International Airport. The pouches contained gold paste, from which 1,141.5 grams of gold were extracted, the statement said.