NEW DELHI: His watch strap was gold, his belt buckle was gold, his sandal straps were gold, even the five-rupee coins and keys and keyring he carried were gold. And that's not counting the many little trinkets of gold he had hidden in his rectum.
The 28-year-old passenger who alighted at
IGI Airport on Thursday from an Etihad Abu Dhabi flight seemed to be moving around in a suspicious manner.
Customs
had received a tip-off but what set the alarms ringing were some harmless looking chit buttons.
They were found to be made of gold. During questioning, the passenger revealed that his sandal buckles, belt buckle, watch strap, key, jeans button, key ring and even coins including other tiny metallic items were made of gold, the officer said. "Similar items in very small sizes were recovered from his rectum. The value of the gold is Rs 14 lakh to 15 lakh," said a senior customs officer.
He was not found carrying any suspicious items where gold could be hidden. During personal frisking, one of the officers found that the passenger was carrying chit buttons in abundance. He was questioned about this and could not provide any satisfactory answer," said a senior customs officer. The sleuths were stumped on conducting a search.
"The man, a resident of
Gautam Puri
in Delhi, had painted them metallic to avoid customs check. The total weight of the items recovered was 514 grams," said the officer. "He was detained and is being questioned for more information. He was not arrested as the value of the gold recovered from him is less than Rs 20 lakh. His past record is being checked to verify if he has used the same modus operandi earlier. It is also being probed if he is linked to any syndicate smuggling gold in the country."