A Delhi-based businessman who had swallowed 12 gold biscuits, to smuggle them into the country from Singapore 10 days ago was arrested by the Customs Department. As he was discharged from the city hospital soon after the surgery to extract metal pieces from his gut on April 15, he was taken into custody for smuggling under Section 104 of the Customs Act. The unusual case came to light when the accused approached the hospital for surgery on April 7. He told the doctors that he had swallowed a water bottle cap and wanted it out of his system.
“We got an X-ray done and it didn’t appear to be a cap. As the gold bars got stacked one behind the other it appeared to be metal,” said Dr CS Ramachandran, senior consulting surgeon at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital. A team of doctors operated upon him on April 9 to get through the abdominal cavity and remove the foreign object.
“We were shocked to find not one but 12 gold biscuits in his abdomen. When we asked him, he was not ready to speak. We immediately sealed them in a container and handed it over to the medical superintendent,” said Dr Ramachandran, adding that the patient was discharged on April 15. The hospital authorities later informed the police and subsequently Customs Department officials were informed.