In a shocking incident, two sisters were caught smuggling gold worth ₹1.17 crore at Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport on Saturday. They arrived at Mumbai on a Vistara flight from Jeddah on Friday night. Read on to learn more about yet another smuggling incident at an Indian airport.
Two Sisters Caught Smuggling Gold Bars At Mumbai Airport
According to a report by Hindustan Times, two sisters —Sagir Khan and Arfina Sagir Khan— were arrested by the Customs’ Air Intelligence Unit (AIU) for being in possession of gold worth a whopping ₹1.17 crore. 25-year-old Sagir Khan and 22-year-old Arfina Sagir Khan arrived at Mumbai Airport on Vistara UK236 Jeddah-Mumbai flight. They passed through the Green Channel before being stopped by officials.
On searching them, the officials found the gold in their underwear. The sisters informed that a man named Mohammad instructed them to smuggle this gold to Mumbai and offered them ₹10,000 for executing this task. The officials immediately arrested the sisters. They were then presented in court on Saturday and remanded in judicial custody for 14 days.
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Said They Were Paid ₹20,000 By Man In Jeddah
An official stated to Hindustan Times that the sisters are both residents of Cheetah Camp in Trombay. The AIU officials acted on a tip-off. Furthermore, the official stated that they were stopped as they crossed the green channel. They first checked Farin and discovered three 24-karat gold dust bars weighing around 112 grams, worth ₹58.97 lakh on her.
On checking Arfina, they found three more gold bars weighing 1,111 grams which are valued at ₹58.97 lakh. The gold dust bars were covered in white balloon tape. They were concealed in a special cavity made in the inner portion of their underwear. In their voluntary statements, the accused revealed that a man named Mohammed met them at Jeddah airport. He bought their tickets and promised them a sum of ₹10,000 per head per trip to smuggle gold to Mumbai.
In total, 2,223 grams of gold worth ₹1.17 crore were found in the possession of the two sisters. Both of them are booked under section 108 of the Customs Act and section 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code.
This is a matter of serious concern.
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