Gold worth Rs 2.5 cr seized from airport staff’s house
The agency had received a tip-off that a housekeeping staff is helping the smugglers by taking the gold outside the airport without being caught in the customs clearance.
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CHENNAI: The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) sleuths have seized gold worth nearly Rs 2.69 crore from the house of a Chennai airport housekeeping staff.
The agency had received a tip-off that a housekeeping staff is helping the smugglers by taking the gold outside the airport without being caught in the customs clearance.
Following this, the DRI team followed a private housekeeping agency staff, Srinivasan, from the airport to his house in Chromepet. The officials, who intercepted Srinivasan near his house, found he was carrying gold pieces weighed about 1 kg with him. Further, when they searched his house, the officials recovered 3.7 kg gold.
Probe revealed that Srinivasan collects the gold from transit passengers in the Chennai airport and manages to take the gold outside the airport. He keeps the gold in his house and later hands it over to the smugglers and get rewarded for it.
The DRI officials have also arrested a former housekeeping staff Dinakar for helping the smugglers. Both of them were remanded in judicial custody and further investigation is on.