Nagpur: In a joint action, the sleuths of Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) and Customs Department seized around 2 kg of gold in Nagpur on Sunday morning. The action was conducted at Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar International Airport, Sonegaon, and the value of the smuggled gold is pegged at little over Rs 1.20 crore in the market.
As per the preliminary reports, a person who deboarded from the Air Arabia flight was intercepted and frisked at the airport, after which it was revealed that he was allegedly carrying the smuggled gold. The person has been identified as Kanakshil Ramteke (30), a resident of Uppalwadi. He had returned from Sharjah and was moving out from the checking point when the DRI and Customs sleuths suspected something fishy. His body language prompted the sleuths to immediately single him out from the crowd.
Ramteke was stopped and taken to a room where he was thoroughly searched, which provided the sleuths with the belt in which the gold was glued in paste form. The youth’s passport and mobile phone handset were immediately taken into possession, and he was taken into custody for interrogation.
As per the passport, Ramteke had left Nagpur for Mumbai around eight days ago, and from there he had gone to Sharjah. Of late, Nagpur’s airport has provided a rich haul of smuggled gold the price of which is expected to touch Rs 70,000 per 10 gm in the market. The last seizure at the airport was reported on October 6 and that time the gold was concealed in the belt by the carrier. Prior to that also, DRI and Customs sleuths had intercepted some people from down South who had tried to move out with the smuggled booty, but got busted.
Ramteke, meanwhile, will be produced in the court by DRI sleuths on Monday. They are likely to seek his remand for further quizzing to find out if some more people are involved in the smuggling ring.
