Foreign currencies worth Rs 81 lakh seized, one held

Foreign currencies worth Rs 81 lakh were seized in two different cases at the airport here today and one person arrested in this connection, Customs officials said.

Acting on a specific information, the officials of Air Intelligence Unit intercepted a 51-year-old passenger bound for Singapore and recovered Euros, US dollars, Singapore dollars and Brunei dollars in different denominations worth Rs 77 lakh, a release from Commissioner of Customs said.

A search on him resulted in the recovery of Rs 4.60 lakh from his pockets following which the passenger was arrested, it said.

In the second incident, another passenger bound for Sri Lanka was nabbed for allegedly carrying 5,000 US dollars worth Rs 3.50 lakh in his hand baggage.

Since the passenger did not declare the currencies, it was seized from him under Customs Act, the release said.

In another incident, customs sleuths recovered 10 units of gold strips weighing 148 grams and valued at Rs 4.50 lakh from a passenger who arrived from Kuwait, it added.