New Delhi, Aug 14 (IANS): Three persons were held with foreign currency valued at Rs 40 lakh by the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel from Terminal No. 3 of the Indira Gandhi International Airport on Sunday.

At 3:50 p.m., the CISF surveillance and intelligence staff noticed suspicious activities of a passenger in the check-in of T-3.

The passenger was later identified as Rajan Singh, who was supposed to travel to Bangkok via Mumbai by an Air India flight.

The official said that after observing his suspicious behaviour, he was diverted to a random checking point for thorough checking of his luggage, during which doubtful images of concealed foreign currency was noticed.

The passenger was allowed to complete the check-in formalities but was kept under close watch.

"After completion of check-in formalities, he was intercepted again and questioned. On the basis of information provided by the passenger and on viewing the CCTV footage, it came to light that he was accompanied by two more passengers who were also scheduled to travel by the same flight," a CISF nofficial said.

He added that the other two passengers were intercepted at the check-in area and the domestic retail area. They were identified as Alok Kumar and Sunil Singh. Later, the three of them, along with their luggage, were brought to Customs office.

"After thorough checking, $34,200 and 15,700 euros, valued at Rs 40 lakh, were found concealed in baby cloth cardboard boxes and bangle boxes underneath a false layer of cardboard, to avoid detection," the official said.

On inquiry, none of the three passengers could produce valid documents to carry such large amount of foreign currency.

The passengers along with the detected money were handed over to Customs officials for further action in the matter.