Havildar held for aiding gold smuggling at Cochin International Airport Limited

KOCHI

: The directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) sleuths arrested a customs head

havildar

on Friday for allegedly assisting in gold smuggling at the Cochin International Airport Limited (Cial). He was caught red-handed with three gold bars weighing 1kg each while coming out of the washroom after collecting smuggled gold from a carrier.


"Sunil Francis was under our surveillance for a while and we believe he was involved in similar offences in the past as well. We have seized 3kg gold from him which was smuggled in by a Muvattupuzha native from Dubai," said a DRI official.

Adhinan Khalid, the Muvattupuzha native, has also been detained. According to sources, the passenger handed over the gold to the havildar, who, incidentally, was off duty on Friday, in the toilet of the international terminal.

Customs sources said Francis entered the airport, telling sleuths that he was there to pick up a relative.

The customs department has suspended the officer. Customs commissioner Sumit Kumar said: "He would probably be dismissed by Monday after an inquiry."