LS poll: Customs dept intensifies vigil on Indo-Nepal border, airport

In backdrop of the forthcoming Lok Sabha election, the Customs department has intensified vigil on Indo-Nepal border and at Lucknow airport to check possible smuggling of gold and other commodities.

"We are coordinating with the state election observers and Income Tax (IT) department to check smuggling," Customs Commissioner (Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand) Ajay Dixit said here today.

The customs department on routine basis works closely with the Seema Suraksha Bal (SSB) and UP Police to check smuggling and contraband, which is rampant along the Indo-Nepal border in UP.

Seven UP districts, namely Pilibhit, Kheri, Bahraich, Sravasti, Balrampur, Siddharthnagar and Maharajganj share border with the Himalayan state of Nepal.

During the current fiscal so far, the customs department had seized almost 35 kg gold valued at about Rs 11 crore in 35 cases, which came to light in Lucknow airport and the border areas.

The gold seizure at Lucknow airport and other places in the state was valued at about Rs 3.68 crore and Rs 7 crore respectively. However, the number of cases were higher at the airport (22) compared to 13 in other places.

The average seizure of gold per passenger is highest at Lucknow airport is highest in the country.

The total seizure of gold and other commodities by customs this fiscal in UP valued at Rs 24 crore is highest so far since the establishment of the regional office in 1994, he informed.

The smuggling of narcotic is rampant on the border areas, especially through Balrampur and Sonauli in Mararajganj districts.

"The smugglers and their carriers use innovative ideas to smuggle gold, which includes hiding the yellow metal inside their bodies, in luggage linings etc," Dixit said.