Gold worth Rs. 17L hidden in tube light choke seized at Hyd airport

Hyderabad: In a strange case, three gold bars concealed in the tube light choke inside the toilet of an aircraft were seized at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport on Sunday. The gold bars, weighing 349.80 gms, are valued at Rs. 17.14 lakh.

The Customs officials who seized the gold suspect that it was smuggled and that it was to be collected by airline staff or some insider. The IndiGo airlines flight 6E 025 arrived at Hyderabad from Dubai on Sunday noon. After the passengers had alighted, the flight crew noticed a suspicious material near the tube light in the toilet and alerted the security staff.

Security personnel along with special teams rushed to the aircraft, sanitized it, and started checking the toilet and the flight. While no harmful material was found, the team found something inside the tube light choke and called the Customs officials. The latter seized the packet and found three gold bars concealed in it.

Officials suspect that some passenger who had travelled in the same flight had carried the gold into the flight and concealed it in the choke. It was supposed to be picked up by the receiver and sent out of the airport safely, bypassing security personnel and Customs officials.

They further said this looked like the work of insiders. However, tracking them down is a big task as employees from different agencies are deployed in a flight for different types of work, they added.