Goa minister Atanasio Monserrate questioned again

Goa education minister Atanasio Monserrate, who was detained for allegedly carrying unaccounted foreign and Indian currency at Mumbai airport recently, was again questioned today, a senior Customs Official said.

The minister and his associate were detained on April 2 for possessing undisclosed Indian and UAE currency and after hours of questioning, the duo were let off.

"Today also the minister was called for questioning when he was grilled about unaccounted currency and later allowed to go," the Customs official said without elaborating.

The minister had $2,5000 traveller's cheque, over 70,000 dirhams and Rs1.25 lakh in cash when he was intercepted at the Mumbai airport on April 2. He was to fly to Dubai when he was caught by the Customs officials.

In February, Pakistani singer Rahat Fateh Ali Khan was detained at the Delhi airport for allegedly carrying about Rs60 lakh of undeclared foreign currency.

The singer and his manager Maroof were later slapped with a penalty of Rs15 lakh each in connection with the recovery of huge amount of foreign currency from them.