In a major breakthrough, the Air Intelligence Unit (AIU) of Customs at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport has dismantled a gold smuggling ring, leading to the arrest of an immigration staffer and a Bangladeshi national.
The accused, identified as Anil Rai, a Class IV contractual employee with the immigration department, was caught with 1.4 kg of gold worth several crores. Rai, who had been with the department for several years, was apprehended on Wednesday morning after receiving the gold from a transit passenger inside an airport restroom. Rai’s role was to collect the gold and hand it over to a receiver waiting outside the airport. However, before he could leave, AIU customs officers detained him and seized the gold during a thorough search.
During interrogation, Rai confessed that the gold had been handed to him by Mohammed Imran Hossain, a Bangladeshi national holding a passport, who had arrived from Dubai and was en route to Bangladesh. The handover occurred near the restroom at the international transit transfer counter. The gold was cleverly concealed in pouches and weighed 1.4 kg.
Authorities further discovered that Rai had previously assisted the syndicate by bypassing security checks to facilitate smuggling attempts.
A joint interrogation of Rai and Hossain led to the identification of a handler, who is now on the run. A manhunt has been launched to trace him and uncover the full scope of the smuggling network. Investigations are also underway to probe the involvement of other immigration officials in the illegal activities.
Both accused were presented in court on Thursday, and further investigations are ongoing.
