Bhubaneswar: Two persons were detained by customs officials at Biju Patnaik International Airport here today for 'illegally' carrying gold and silver jewellery worth over Rs 9 lakh.
As per reports, gold ornaments weighing 304 grams were seized from the possession of a passenger who had arrived at the airport by Air India flight AI 338 from Bangkok.
Similarly, silver ornaments weighing 354 grams were also seized from one of his co-passenger.
In a bid to escape from being caught by customs officials, the passenger had reportedly applied silver coating on the gold ornaments.
Meanwhile, Joint Commissioner of Central Excise, Customs & Service Tax, Bhubaneswar, Vishnu Kumar, said that further investigation in connection with the incident is on.
Official sources said that there has been a spurt in gold smuggling attempts via Bhubaneswar airport after it started operations as an international airport.
Also Read: Is Bhubaneswar Airport becoming a haven for gold smugglers?
So far, gold worth over Rs 1 crore has been seized at the airport in the last five months which has now emerged as a major concern for the officials of the Customs department and the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence.