Jaipur Airport Customs seizes over 220g gold from Saudi-return; here's how it was hidden

In a shocking incident, the customs team from Jaipur International Airport found 220.19 grams of gold in possession of a traveller returning from Saudi Arabian capital Riyadh. What raises the eyebrows is the gold was hidden inside an iron lock which would seem like a normal lock. Commissioner of Customs  Subhash Agarwal confirmed the finding of gold with the Go Air passenger who arrived at the airport with Flight number G8-6036.

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The incident assumes importance as the massive Gold Smuggling Racket had come to the fore in early July when Custom officials seized 30 kg of gold worth Rs.15 crore at the Thiruvananthapuram Airport from a diplomatic cargo addressed to a person in the UAE Consulate.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) which is handling the Kerala Gold Case has even hinted at the possibility of a Hawala network and the smuggling being linked to terror-financing. Sarith Kumar, who worked at the UAE Consulate, was arrested in this regard. Reportedly, he told the Customs about the role of Swapna Suresh, an ex-Consulate employee now working as the manager of the Kerala State Information Technology Infrastructure Limited. The Kerala Police which submitted its report also highlighted that over 100 kgs of gold has been smuggled in and out along with Rs 1000 crore of hawala transactions in the past year.

The case took a political turn after photos with Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan surfaced. It has been alleged that Suresh has links with the CM and has been seen with him at parties when she was working at the UAE Consulate. Following the backlash over her appointment, she was sacked by the state government. On Thursday, Vijayan announced that the suspension of his former Principal Secretary M Sivasankar pending the departmental inquiry. It was reportedly found that he had violated the All-India Services Conduct rules due to his connections with the Thiruvananthapuram gold smuggling accused.

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