Mumbai, Aug 16 (PTI): Gold bars worth over Rs 47 lakh were recovered today from under a seat of an Air India (AI) flight at the city international airport, a Customs official said.
Acting on a tip-off, the Air Intelligence Unit (AIU) of the Customs searched the flight after it arrived from Abu Dhabi this morning, the official said. "During their search, 15 gold bars weighing 1.74 kg, were found concealed in a hollow pipe and placed under a seat," he said. The total value of the seized gold is around Rs 47,69,330, the official said.
"The unclaimed gold bars were seized under reasonable belief that they were smuggled into India without paying the Customs duty and in contravention of the provisions of the Customs Act he said, adding that further investigation was on.