10.22 kg gold concealed in electrical gadgets seized at Amritsar Airport

10.22 kgs of gold worth Rs five crore were seized by the Customs Department within two days at Amritsar International Airport. Concealed gold was seized in different electrical appliances after officials targeted search and examination of the baggage of the suspected passengers.

Amritsar:The customs commissionerate has intercepted six passengers at the international airport in two days and seized gold worth around Rs 5 crore concealed in electrical appliances, officials said on Friday.

Five passengers from Dubai were intercepted on Thursday at the Sri Guru Ram Dass Jee International Airport (SGRDJI) while another arrived in a flight under the 'Vande Bharat' mission on Friday, Customs Commissioner Dipak Kumar Gupta said in a press statement here.

The gold was found hidden in different home appliances like electric iron, drill machines, juicer-mixer grinder.

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He said, due to the heightened alert as a result of recent seizures of gold at different international airports across India and the resulting inputs received from reliable sources, the staff during the targeted search and examination of the baggage of the suspected passengers noticed some suspicious shades of orange-yellow concealed in their check-in luggage.

Further examination of the baggages and the appliances revealed that gold was concealed inside the appliances, he said.

"All the passengers used the same modus operandi. The gold is of 24-carat purity. The gold recovered from all the passengers weighs 10.22 kg having a present market value of approximately Rs 5 crore. Further investigation is under progress," he said.

PTI