Bhubaneswar: The recent seizure of 2 kg gold worth Rs 66 lakh in Hyderabad has now put the authorities of Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) on alert ahead of the New Year with special focus now being on Biju Patnaik International Airport in Bhubaneswar which has emerged as the most preferred route for gold smuggling. Such alertness has been fuelled by the fact that in 2018, the DRI officials have seized smuggled gold worth Rs 2.5 crore at the Bhubaneswar airport.
“We are on the job and regularly working on intercepting smuggled gold as new tricks are being used by smugglers,” said K Tushar Parashar, deputy director, DRI Bhubaneswar.
It is pertinent to mention here that the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence officials had seized gold worth Rs 66 lakh from a passenger who arrived in Hyderabad by an Oman Airlines flight from Dubai recently. The gold was concealed inside a microwave oven, said a DRI release.
With the New Year round the corner, the DRI officials are anticipating that attempts could be made to traffic gold via Bhubaneswar airport and special focus is being laid on the flights coming from Bangkok and New Delhi as well.