Woman held at Ahmedabad airport for smuggling gold worth Rs 26 lakh

Ahmedabad

A woman was arrested here today for allegedly smuggling gold at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport (SVPI), Customs department officials said.

Kavita Jasminkumar Kachhala (33), who arrived from an Air Arabia flight from Sharjah to Ahmedabad, was arrested for smuggling one kilogram gold worth Rs 26 lakh at SVPI airport, a custom official said.

The woman was later released on bail by Metropolitan court magistrate on a bond of Rs 15,000.

Kachhala, who hails from Rajkot, admitted that she tried to smuggle the precious metal for the first time, officials said, adding that she had concealed two gold bars in her apparels.

One gold-bar was 487.700 gram with a mark of Al-Etihad Gold Dubai and another of 512.300 gram with a mark described on it as ‘Gold 999.9 Melter Assayer’, the official said.

Air Intelligence Unit (AIU) of Customs found the woman’s movements suspicious and later inquired whether she had carried any contraband items.

She, initially denied, but when she was checked thoroughly, gold bars were recovered from her possession.

PTI