Gold bars worth Rs 90 lakhs were seized and three passengers arrested at a city airport today while they were allegedly trying to smuggle the precious metal.
Three gold bars, each weighing one kg, were seized from Salman Hyder, and Mir Hussain Ali and his wife Amthul Zahara, who arrived at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport at Shamshabad here in flights from Singapore and Bangkok respectively, customs official told PTI.
"The trio, who were arrested after the seizure of the gold and their questioning, are from Karnataka and all of them were to hand over the smuggled gold bars to one person in Bangalore," he said.
Acting on suspicion, the Air Intelligence Unit of Hyderabad Customs intercepted Hyder when he arrived from Singapore last night. After a thorough check, one kg gold bar which was concealed in his undergarment was found.
Similarly, Mir Hussain Ali and his wife, who arrived from Bangkok at around 12.15 AM, were checked on suspicion and the woman passenger was found carrying one kg gold bar inside her 'salwar'.
Another one kg gold bar was recovered from Ali, which was concealed in a pouch stitched to his trousers, the official added.
