Jaipur airport: 3 airlines employees arrested in gold smuggling case

Jaipur: The customs department has arrested three employees of Air India Engineering Services Limited (AIESL) – a wholly-owned subsidiary company of Air India Limited, in connection with an international gold smuggling case. The smugglers, in connivance with these employees, smuggled gold worth 75 lakhs from Saudi Arabia after hiding it under the seats in the plane. The smuggling attempt was foiled at Jaipur airport on Tuesday.

Those arrested were identified as Shivram Meena, Gyanchand Meena and Kaushal Verm. They have been working in the subsidiary of Air India for three years.

The smuggling was caught at Jaipur airport on November 16. Acting on a tip-off, a customs department team searched a plane after it landed at Jaipur International Airport on Tuesday. The team found 1.5 kg gold worth Rs 75 lakh in the international market hidden under a seat. The team also took a passenger, identified as Srichand into custody.

During interrogation with Srichand, the names of the three AIESL employees came up. After corroborating the revelations made by the passenger with supporting evidence, the three employees were taken into custody. They were produced in a court that has remanded them in judicial custody.

It has also come up during primary investigation that the trio had successfully helped smugglers sneak gold worth Rs 5 crore into India so far.