IndiGo airlines loader arrested at Mumbai airport for stealing smuggled gold worth Rs 1 crore from check-in luggage

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The CISF Thursday said it apprehended a loader working for IndiGo airlines at the Mumbai international airport for allegedly stealing smuggled gold bars worth Rs 1 crore from check-in baggage.

Akshay Kule, working in the baggage breakup area at Terminal 2 of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, was caught on December 11 at around 3 am, newswire PTI reported quoting a Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) spokesperson.

Kule is a loader with IndiGo and was outsourced by the airline from a company called Agile Airport Services, he said.

Kule was "involved" in the theft of smuggled gold from the check-in baggage of an incoming flight. Sixteen gold bars weighing about 1.86 kilograms were recovered from his bag by CISF personnel, he added.

The value of the gold bars is about Rs 1 crore, the spokesperson said.

The loader was handed over to Customs officials for further investigation and registration of a case against him.

Meanwhile, the Enforcement Directorate on Thursday said it conducted searches in Punjab on the premises of the people who were allegedly involved in a gold smuggling racket being run from across the India-Myanmar border.

The raids were carried out at seven locations in Patiala on December 12 against the accused identified by the agency as Lucky Satija, Surinder Kumar, Manjodh Singh Cheema, among others, the ED said in a statement.

The money laundering case, filed under sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), stems from a complaint of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI).

The DRI intercepted two trucks in November, 2020 at different locations and each truck was found carrying 200 pieces of gold bars of foreign origin, concealed in its fuel tank, the statement said.

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The combined gross weight of the gold was 66.4 kg and this had a market value of Rs 33.2 crore, it added.

The trucks were allegedly operated by associates of Lucky Satija, Surinder Kumar and Manjodh Singh Cheema who were transporting smuggled gold to Delhi and Punjab from Guwahati, Assam. The gold was brought to India through the India-Myanmar border, the agency said.

The ED said it seized "incriminating" documents and digital devices during its searches.

"Lucky Satija, Surinder Kumar and Manjodh Singh Cheema are part of a larger syndicate involved in smuggling of gold into India from the Myanmar border through Guwahati," it said. (With inputs from agencies)