A senior Air India (AI) official was arrested by the Customs officials at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA) here in the early hours of Wednesday for allegedly possessing eight pieces of gold weighing 1,649 grams worth Rs 44.10 lakh while exiting from the aero-bridge at the airport after attending his duty on an AI flight. The Customs officials also arrested one more person who had been waiting outside the airport to receive the alleged seized gold.
Identifying the arrested AI official as one Janardhan Gunaji Kondvilkar, senior superintendent, service engineer, Commissioner of Customs, CSIA V Rama Mathew said that acting on “specific intelligence”, Kondvilkar was intercepted while exiting from the aerobridge after attending his duty on flight no AI 331 on Tuesday night.
A personal search of Kondvilkar resulted in the recovery of eight cut pieces of gold bars weighing totally 1,649 grams valued at Rs 44,10,844. The yellow metal found on Kondvilkar was seized under the provisions of Customs Act, 1962.
Subsequently, the Custom officials arrested one Vijay Jagdish Rawal, who was allegedly waiting outside the airport to receive the gold. After he was arrested, Rawal also admitted having the knowledge of the seized.
Meanwhile, the Customs officials are interrogating both the arrested persons.