IGI smuggling racket: Customs to get warrant against fourth accused

While three persons were arrested last week for their alleged involvement in a smuggling racket operating out of Terminal 3 of the Indira Gandhi International Airport.

While three persons were arrested last week for their alleged involvement in a smuggling racket operating out of Terminal 3 of the Indira Gandhi International Airport one of them an Air India employee the Customs department on Monday said the fourth accused in the case,also an AI employee,is still at large. The department has now decided to move the court seeking issuance of a non-bailable warrant against the accused.

Identified as Kishore Kumar (53),the accused is employed with Air India as a Hindi translator. He was identified by the Customs through CCTV footage reviewed by the department after the racket was unearthed following the detention of two persons by the CISF on suspicion outside T3 on March 24. Examination of the baggage of one of them a passenger who had arrived from Singapore revealed goods worth Rs 27 lakh in his possession.

The fourth person involved in the case is still absconding. Summons have been sent to his residential address,which is locked. He has not reported to work all these days, an investigating officer said. We will now approach the court to issue a non-bailable warrant against Kishore Kumar,so that he can be arrested soon, he said.

On March 28,the Customs department arrested three persons – the passenger from Singapore,Sanjay Nangia; Air India employee Mohit Bhandari and mastermind Sanjeev Malhotra – in connection with the smuggling racket after seizing goods worth Rs 13 lakh through various searches conducted across the city. Nangia,Bhandari and Kumar were identified in the CCTV footage taking tags off Nangias baggage. It was also established that Bhandari and Kumar,taking advantage of their airport entry passes as Air India employees,diverted the suspected baggage through another channel,while Nangia was diverted through the Green Channel only with one piece of hand baggage and two bottles of liquor.

Sophisticated video cameras,lenses and imported accessories worth Rs 40 lakh were seized. It was also found that the other three were paid $20,000 and Rs 2 lakh by Malhotra.

2 held at IGI with guns,ammo
Two persons were arrested at the IGI Airport for allegedly carrying revolvers and live cartridges in their hand baggage. Vijay Singh Chauhan,CEO of a Noida-based firm,was arrested when he was going through the security check to catch a flight for Bhopal,police said. A revolver and four live cartridges were recovered from his bag. Chauhan produced an expired licence for the revolver. He was handed over to police and a case registered, said a police officer. The second accused,Rajiv Kumar Srivastava,was arrested after a Mauser pistol and 10 live cartridges were recovered from his bag.

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