Curbs on the import of gold
has been eased, yet there has been an unprecedented jump in cases of gold
smuggling at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in the past
year.Ahmedabad stood eighth in the number of gold smuggling cases registered at
airports across the country in 2014, according to the Anti-Smuggling Unit under
the Department of Revenue in the Ministry of Finance.
The first was Mumbai with
1,150 cases followed by Chennai (970), New Delhi (401), Kolkata (233),
Bangalore (153), Cochin (134) and Hyderabad (126).
“Only two cases of gold
smuggling were reported from the Ahmedabad airport in 2012 which surged to 51
in 2014. In 2012, only 5 kg gold was seized from the city airport which
increased to 57 kg in 2014,“ said Undersecretary (Department of Revenue) A C
Mallick.
In the past eight months,
more than 40 cases of gold smuggling have been detected at Ahmedabad airport,
revealed data furnished by the Anti Smuggling Unit.
What is worrying officials
is that cases of smuggling have not come down despite the legal import of gold
into the country increasing significantly during the same period. However,
there has been a sharp rise in import duty from 4 per cent to 10 per cent over
the years.
What encourages smugglers
are the easy bail procedures and delay in prosecution process. According to
law, seized gold below Rs 20 lakh could be released after applicable duty and
penalty is collected.
A smuggler is eligible for
immediate bail if the value of seized gold is below Rs 1 crore. The Customs
department normally takes six months to issue a show cause notice to the
accused.
It takes another six months
to a year to begin prosecution. The entire process gets delayed if they accused
moves court against the notice.
Interestingly, in 70 per
cent of the cases, smuggled gold is sourced from Middle East. In February this
year, Gujarat police made the single biggest seizure of gold smuggled into the
country by arresting six people leaving the airport with 60 kg of the precious
metal flown in from Dubai. In 2012, only 5 kg gold was seized from the city
airport which increased to 57 kg in 2014.
“There has been a shift in
the trend of gold smuggling in flights. Previously, the carriers used to take
low-priced flights but gradually they are shifting to business flights,“ said
an officer from the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI).
In several cases of gold
smuggling, investigation has revealed the involvement of airline staff.
However, according to data procured by Mirror, in the past three years, only
six staff members have been arrested in such involvements.
In 2013, in a major
breakthrough, DRI caught employees of Air Arabia and Cambata Aviation for
smuggling 3kg of gold. After this, the Ahmedabad airport made it mandatory for
airlines staff to go through security checks be fore leaving airport.
“There are many agencies
working at the airport and we keep a watch on all of them. So, they devise of
new ways to smuggle in gold into the city,“ said an officer from the airport.
SMUGGLING EASY
» As per Indian law, any
citizen can carry 1 kg gold by declaring and paying the stipulated duty » A
person caught with gold less than Rs 20 lakh will not be arrested » A person
caught with gold between Rs 20 lakh and Rs 1crore will be ar rested and can be
bailed out.
» A person caught with gold
more than 1 crore will be arrested with out bail and prosecuted
K'TAKA MAN CAUGHT WITH 20
GOLD BARS
A 25-year-old resident of
Karnataka was caught with un declared gold worth Rs 1.40 lakh at the Sardar Val
labhbhai Patel International Airport on Wednesday, around 2.15 am. Mo hammed
Reehab Hajeeb, who was travelling by Qatar Airways from Doha, was carrying
around 20 gold bars weighing 2,333 grams, hidden in elec tronic equipment
-while eight gold bars were concealed in the motor of an air cooler, 12 gold
bars were hidden in the capacitor of an oven. Caught af ter the officials on
duty scanned his luggage, Hajeeb was presented be fore the Metropolitan Court
later on Wednesday. The matter is being in vestigated, said officials. AM
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