A 29-year-old man from Madhya Pradesh is accused of concealing 2.5 kilogrammes of gold in his waist belt, worth around Rs 1.50 crore. When he realised he could be caught, he then tried to throw it away in a toilet’s dustbin at Mumbai’s international airport. According to the reports, the accused have been detained by agents of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI).
Puneet Bhavrani, an Indore resident, has been identified as the accused. He was detained under the terms of the Customs Act and was detained in judicial custody. Bhavrani landed early on Friday at Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport after travelling from Muscat via Dubai.
Officials from DRI said that they were informed that a traveller from Dubai was most likely to come carrying gold. According to the reports, officials claimed they kept an eye out and thought Bhavrani’s actions were odd.
“Before he was to go through the green channel (security check by customs), he went to the toilet meant for disabled people near gate 66, not knowing that he was under surveillance. That he used the toilet for differently-abled people had further raised suspicion.” said an officer.
Officials went inside the restroom as soon as he left and found a cotton belt with two pouches thrown in the wastebasket. He was questioned about the belt by officials as he passed through the security check. Although he initially disputed it, eventually acknowledged ownership and disclosed that the substance was gold paste, according to the reports.
When the gold dust was examined and valued, it was discovered to be 24-karat gold dust in wax with a gross weight of 2,669 grammes, valued at Rs 1.50 crore by the government’s approver. After being taken into custody, he confessed to having been to Dubai and bringing gold paste at someone else’s request in exchange for Rs 20,000 in cash. According to the officer, who was quoted by the Indian Express, he declined to identify the person for whom he received the gold.
“We want to interrogate him to find out who was supposed to retrieve the gold after he had dumped it in the toilet. We suspect that he is a part of a syndicate which may have advised him to dump the contraband if caught and some insider was supposed to take it out.” added a senior officer, as reported.