Bhubaneswar: The Income Tax (I-T) department has seized 3.8 kg gold valued over Rs 2 crore during a raid at the domestic cargo terminal of Biju Patnaik International Airport (BPIA) in Bhubaneswar.
This came a day after around 1 kg gold in capsule form was recovered from the rectum of a resident of Maharashtra after he arrived here from Bangkok.
According to sources, the I-T sleuths on Thursday detained sales manager of Fashion Jewellery Pvt Ltd Hansraj Deora, who was found carrying six gold bars and nine gold biscuits weighing around 3.8 kg along with clothes and other items in a tin box labeled ‘valuable cargo’.
Though he did not board the flight, probably after getting a whiff of the raid, the IT sleuths collected the booking information and picked him up within hours from the state capital.
Initial investigation revealed the detainee was transporting the gold to Mumbai, where the jewellery store has its headquarters.
Soon after the seizure, the I-T officials also searched the jewellery store at Janpath here. The department is suspecting some hawala transaction or political links in it. A probe probe has been launched to ascertain whether the gold was being smuggled to generate cash and if the money could have been used during the elections with five Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra voting in the first phase on April 19.
On April 17, the Customs department intercepted a passenger on basis of information from its air intelligence unit. Besides gold in the form of three capsules, a gold ring and a piece of gold concealed under his watch were also seized from the accused.
He was booked under the Customs Act, sources said.
The IT department has deployed quick response teams in all districts of Odisha and air intelligence units (AIUs) at BPIA, Veer Surendra Sai Airport in Jharsuguda and in Rourkela, Utkela, Jeypore and Berhampur airports to check illegal movement of cash during elections.
