Varanasi: In a shocking incident, Customs officials on Wednesday recovered smuggled gold worth over Rs 48 lakh at Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport in Uttar Pradesh's Varanasi, from a passenger from Bihar who had concealed the gold in his anus, an official said. The gold was concealed in the form of a capsule hidden in the passenger's private part and was spotted during scanning of passengers de-boarding the plane.
Customs department officials said that an Air India flight IX 184 landed at the airport from Sharjah late on Wednesday evening. During the routine checking of the passengers, one of the passengers appeared suspicious and was detained by the Customs officials for questioning.
During subsequent checking of the passenger and scanning, it was revealed that there was gold in the form of capsules in his private part. The passenger was taken to the private room and with the help of a team of doctors, three gold capsules were recovered from his anus, an official said.
The gold capsules weighing 660 grams, are said to be worth more than Rs 48 lakh. The arrested accused has been identified as Hasmuddin Ali, a resident of Champaran district of Bihar. During interrogation, he admitted to gold smuggling. An official said that further proceedings against the arrested accused are underway.
The Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport was in news last year as well when in June, Customs officials found gold worth more than one crore rupees hidden in the toilet of the Airport. The gold was allegedly smuggled by a passenger in an Air India Express aircraft IX 184 from Sharjah.
