Man held at airport with jewellery worth Rs 78 lakh

A man, carrying 1.28 kg of undeclared diamond-studded gold and platinum ornaments worth over Rs 78 lakh here, was arrested by the customs officials at the Sardar Vallabhai Patel International Airport (SVPIA) here.
"Praful Rajpara, a resident of Rajkot, had arrived at the airport in Air Arabia flight G9-481 early yesterday morning," a Customs official said.
"During the search, we seized diamond-studded gold and platinum ornaments valued at Rs 78 lakh," he said, adding that he was arrested and sent to Sabarmati Central Jail.
According to the officials, ever since the passport was issued to Rajpara in July last year, he has made five trips between Gulf countries and Ahmedabad.

"All his departures and arrivals were from SVPIA, except one departure from Mumbai," an official said.
In the last two months, Customs officials at SVPIA have seized over 6.4 kg's of gold. Five kg gold biscuits valued at around Rs 1.5 crore were seized on March 28, while 1.4 kg's of gold rings and chain valued at Rs 55 lakh was recovered on May 5 from a passenger from Dubai.