On November 10, customs officials caught three persons who had reached Patna on Indigo flight 6E 921 from Ahmedabad. Initially, they were identified as Hitesh Jain, Arun and Arif. All three were caught with almost 1.5 KG of gold worth Rs 77 lakh. However, during interrogation, it was revealed that Hitesh and Arun were using fake identities. Hitesh Jain’s real name is Afsar and Arun’s real name is Rizwan. Though Arif did not change his name to travel, his address turned out to be fake.
As per reports, they were in possession of one gold bar with a hologram of Dubai and four biscuits. The total weight of the illegal gold in their possession was 1.467 KG. The estimated cost of the gold recovered was around Rs 77 Lakh. Prima Facie the customs officials thought it was a smuggling case but during the investigation, it was found all three smugglers used fake voter ID cards for travelling.
Two of the arrested smugglers were living in Delhi while one of them is from Ahmedabad. Hitesh’s real name turned out to be Afsar and his father’s name is Ataullah. Arun’s real name is Rizwan. He had informed the officials that his father’s name is Shiv Kumar but it turned out to be Khurshid. Arun’s address was also fake. He had told his address as Khada Colony, Swaroop Nagar, Delhi but the real address is Ghadi Mandi, Seelampur, Delhi.
Mohammad Arif did not change his name to travel but his address was fake. He had given his address as Naithla Hasanpur, Bulandshahr. Investigation revealed that he was a resident of Bapu Nagar, Ahmedabad.
It was further revealed that they had fake Voter ID cards. Furthermore, during interrogation, they revealed that the gold was already placed under their seats on the flight by some ‘Aaka’ or master. It is unclear who is the mastermind behind the smuggling matter.
As per Dainik Bhaskar’s report, during interrogation, the officials got suspicious of their dialect and accent. They noticed the three were using some words that are commonly spoken in the Punjab area of Pakistan. The officials used strict interrogation techniques after which the three broke down and revealed their real identities. As the matter is sensitive, the agency is investigating the matter from every possible angle and checking if the gold was supposed to be used for terror funding, the reports suggested.
PK Katiyar, Principal Commissioner of Customs said, “The matter is very sensitive. The department has shared complete information about the three persons caught with the gold with the police. The in-depth investigation will be carried out in the matter.”
