Gold worth over Rs 50 lakh seized at IGI

New Delhi, Jun 10. Gold worth over Rs 50 lakh has been seized by customs officials at Indira Gandhi International Airport here in two separate incidents. A customs official said 47-year-old Abdul Rahim Badshah Patel, resident of Karnataka, has been arrested for allegedly trying to smuggle about two kgs of gold jewellery worth about Rs 38 lakh into the country. Patel, who hails from Bhatkal in the southern state, was intercepted by customs officials after he arrived from Dubai yesterday, Neeta Lall Butalia, Commissioner (Customs), IGIA, said in a press release issued today. On detailed examination of his baggage and personal search, 1.9 kgs of gold jewellery was found concealed inside knee caps tied to his legs. The gold was seized and Patel arrested, she said. In another incident, four unclaimed pieces of gold bars, weighing about 448 gms and wrapped in yellow paper, were recovered from a washroom near international transfer check-in area, Butalia said, adding that the gold bars were seized. "The total value of the gold seizures is more than Rs 50 lakh," she said. This is the first big catch after the Finance Ministry had on June 5 raised import duty on gold by 2 per cent to 8 per cent in a bid to rein in demand for the yellow metal.