2 women ground staffers of maintenance agency also arrested for being part of their plan
Days after a Jet Airways crew member was held at the city airport for allegedly being involved in foreign currency smuggling syndiate, the Air Intelligence unit (AIU) of the airport customs on Wednesday arrested two women ground staffers of a maintenance agency attached with MIAL for their role in smuggling of gold worth Rs74 lakh. The duo was held following the arrest of one passenger and his accomplice, who reportedly revealed during interrogation their plan to hand over the smuggled gold to these women on reaching the airport.
According to AIU deputy commissioner Kiran Kumar, based on profiling, a passenger named Shaikh Mohammed Ajmal was followed after his arrival from Dubai via Jet Airways 9W 537. He was intercepted after his clearance through the green channel. "His search resulted in the recovery of 24 gold bars of ten tola each, having a total weight of 2,784gm valued at Rs73.93 lakh," said Kumar.
AIU officials said Ajmal's interrogation led them to another accused Raghib Shaikh, who was waiting outside the airport terminal to receive him. He was also caught and interrogated.
"Analysis of their phones revealed the details of two LiveWell ground staffers named Kianat Khan and Kiran Yadav," added Kumar.
The questioning of the accused brought to light the whole story. Khan and Yadav were to collect the gold from Ajmal in the arrival hall toilet, located just before the green channel. Phone call details of the passenger and the accused ground staffers corroborated the sequence of the crime, the AIU officials said, adding that Khan and Yadav have admitted to their complicity in the crime. They have said that they were to take delivery of the gold but didn't step ahead as AIU officers were following Ajmal.
In the past 18 months, investigations have unravelled the roles of airline/airport insiders in at least two dozen smuggling cases. Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) and AIU officials claim that it becomes easier for airline/airport staffers to join smuggling syndicates as they have access to areas inside the airport, and are least likely to be suspected. Several times in the past, the authorities have written to airlines to keep a tab on their staffers.
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