Gold bars worth over Rs 47 lakh found hidden under aircraft seat on Air India flight

Airport Customs officials have seized gold bars worth Rs 47 lakh which were allegedly hidden under a seat of an Air India (AI) flight.

According to the customs officials, the Air Intelligence Unit (AIU) had received a tip-off after which the concerned officials searched the flight arriving from Abu Dhabi to Mumbai airport on Wednesday morning.

"During the search,15 gold bars weighing 1.74 kg were found concealed in a hollow pipe placed under a seat. The total estimated value of the seized gold is about Rs 47 lakh," said an officer

"The unclaimed gold bars are seized under reasonable belief that they were smuggled into India without paying the Customs duty and in contravention of the provisions of the Customs Act," the officer added.

In the recent times, this is another seizure made by the customs official at the airport. Similar such case was reported at Mumbai airport a few months back where unclaimed gold bars worth Rs 29 lakh were recovered by the Customs Officers concealed under the aircraft seat.