Two arrested from airport for carrying over Rs 36 lakh

Security personnel at the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport nabbed two persons with a huge amount of unexplained cash on Sunday. The two persons were later taken to Airport police station.

Police said Vaodwip Jung Rana, a resident of Rajasthan, and Avtar Singh, a Delhi resident, were arrested and a total Rs 36.94 lakh in cash was recovered from them. When their baggage was being scanned, the money was found to be stored in two separate packets.

Investigators suspected that the two accused are members of a hawala racket.

"They were about to board the flight for Delhi on Monday. The jawans of Central Industrial Security Force [CISF] caught them during checking. They were taken to the police station where they confessed that they were carrying somebody else's money to Delhi," a police officer said.

Meanwhile, in another incident at the airport, a person was caught with US dollars equivalent to Rs 1.20 lakh. Police said that when they asked the accused for an explanation, he failed to give a suitable reply to the on duty custom Air Intelligence Unit officers at the airport.

The accused Vijay Kumar was later arrested and taken to the police station. "Vijay Kumar is a resident of Maharastra's Ulhasnagar. He was taken to court and remanded to police custody," an investigating officer said.

Airport sources revealed that intelligence agencies have started investigations to unearth various rackets operating through aerial routes. Several activities of air-borne smugglers are being tracked off late.

Investigation has revealed that smugglers earn good money for selling gold in Kolkata. The city has emerged as one of the biggest suppliers of smuggled gold.

In some recent incidents, the customs Air Intelligence Unit at Kolkata airport has seized gold worth Rs 34 lakh collectively in three consecutive days. Two persons were arrested in these cases. In a recent incident, security personnel had detained a person on the charge of illegally bringing gold jewellery by storing them inside a marker pen.