BJP worker, 6 others held in Rs 5cr gold smuggling racket at Mumbai airport

MUMBAI: Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) officials arrested seven persons, including a BJP office-bearer, for their alleged involvement in a major gold smuggling racket at the city airport and seized over Rs 5 crore of gold dust mixed with wax in the wee hours of Saturday.

The arrested accused were identified as AI Airport Services Ltd employees Rohit Singh, Santosh Pol, and Ajit Acharekar, Samiullah Shah, Bangladeshi national Mohammed Kawsar, and Sri Lankan nationals Mohamed Faleel Kasim and Rifkhan Hameed Lebbe. Acharekar is reportedly associated with the BJP workers’ wing. He had joined the party a few months ago in the presence of state BJP president Ravindra Chavan.

Acting on a tipoff, DRI officials mounted surveillance near a luxury hotel close to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA). Around 2.30am, DRI officers noticed Singh handing over a black item to a man, later identified as Samiullah Shah, as Pol and Acharekar stood guard. All four were intercepted.

They were escorted to the Air Intelligence Unit office at CSMIA for questioning and search proceedings. On frisking Shah, the officers recovered a black sock containing three egg-shaped capsules wrapped in plastic and blue adhesive tape. The capsules were suspected to contain gold dust mixed with wax.

During interrogation, Shah allegedly told investigators that he had been instructed by his handlers to collect the capsules from the airport staff. Singh allegedly disclosed that the capsules had been collected from a Bangladeshi transit passenger who had arrived from Bangkok. He further claimed that two Sri Lankan transit passengers travelling on the same flight were also carrying smuggled gold concealed inside their bodies and were expected to hand it over to other members of the syndicate inside the airport transit area.

Based on this information, DRI officials traced and intercepted Kawsar, Kasim and Lebbe. After obtaining temporary landing permits and conducting further examination, officials subjected the two Sri Lankan passengers to X-ray screening on suspicion of internal concealment. Investigators said that the scans confirmed the presence of concealed objects, following which the duo allegedly admitted to carrying capsules containing gold dust in wax form concealed in their rectums. The capsules were later purged at the Customs office washroom. Officials stated that seven capsules were recovered from the three transit passengers.

According to DRI, the seized contraband consisted of gold dust in wax form weighing 3,190gm, valued at a little over Rs 5 crore. Authorities estimated the evaded customs duty at nearly Rs 1.8 crore.

The probe further revealed an alleged organised syndicate operating across countries including Dubai and Bangkok, using transit passengers and airport insiders to smuggle gold into India. Investigators claimed that the foreign nationals acted on instructions from overseas handlers and routinely handed over gold capsules to airport staff members in transit buses and restricted airport areas.

The seven arrested accused were booked under various provisions of Section 135 of the Customs Act, 1962, relating to smuggling, evasion of customs duty and possession of goods liable for confiscation. They were produced before the night magistrate, who remanded them to judicial custody. In the court, their lawyers, Vijay Adani, Ravi Hirani and Prabhakar Tripathi, argued that their clients were innocent and were “induced by the masterminds”.

DRI officials said all accused persons allegedly admitted their roles during questioning and failed to provide legal documents for the seized gold. The gold was subsequently seized under provisions of the Customs Act, 1962.

The DRI stated that the investigation remains ongoing and efforts are underway to identify additional syndicate members, hawala operators and financial links connected to the smuggling network. Authorities told the court that the accused are part of an international gold smuggling syndicate and their custodial interrogation is necessary to uncover the wider conspiracy and trace the flow of smuggled gold and illegal funds.