India: Unclaimed gold worth Rs 1 crore found under plane seat

Chennai, Nov 29 (PTI): Unclaimed gold bars worth Rs 1 crore, concealed under the seat of an aircraft which had arrived from Colombo, were seized at the airport here, Customs authorities said on Friday.

Acting on specific inputs that the precious metal was being smuggled by a passenger on Thursday, a search was made on the plane after it came here from the Lankan capital.

The check yielded 23 gold bars worth Rs 1 crore. The metal was hidden underneath a seat, a press release from the Customs said.

The passenger who occupied that seat was questioned on the seizure of the gold, but he said he had no connection.

In another incident, gold concealed in the innerwear of a passenger upon his arrival here from Kuala Lumpur was seized on Friday.

During interrogation, the passenger became nervous and a check led to the detection of 547 gm valued at Rs 18.5 lakh, the release said.