One more customs official held in missing gold case

One more customs official was today arrested in connection with the disappearance of 34 kg of gold from a Customs strong room here, taking the total number of arrests in the case to three so far.
The official was arrested after being interrogated along with two of his colleagues, CBI officials said, but declined to divulge further details.
Earlier in the day, CBI said three customs personnel had been detained for questioning in connection with the case.
CBI, investigating the case related to missing of the gold seized from smugglers and kept at the customs office here, had last month arrested two Customs department officials, who have since been suspended.

When the incident first came to light early last month, it was suspected that about 15 kg of gold had gone missing.
However, as per the present estimate 34 kgs of gold and foreign currency equivalent to about Rs 17 lakh were missing.

The investigating agency said the exact figure could be arrived at only after final verification of accounts (of gold seized).
But some of the vital documents to cross examine the amount of gold stored in the strong room as well as the amount of gold handed over to the owners who paid the required duty were missing, CBI said.

So far investigation had been completed at the airport, customs office, and the houses of some of the customs personnel, it added.