Chance arrest of contract worker leads Chennai cops to gold smugglers

CHENNAI: A big gold smuggling racket, involving catering and conservancy workers, was busted at Chennai airport with the chance arrest of a contract worker on Thursday.
Police found that the contract labourers managed to bring the gold out of the flights at the airport by either hiding them in the garbage boxes or food van on several occasions.
Police came to know about the modus operandi when they caught hold of the worker who on Tuesday staged a drama claiming to have lost his gold jewellery to a robber.
This time, the worker along with others had planned to escape with 9kg smuggled gold that came from Dubai and not hand it over to their employer who runs an agency to supply food on flights.
Police said on August 24, Saravanan, 30, of Pallavaram, employed at the agency lodged a complaint that two men robbed him of his gold jewellery. A police team on suspicion nabbed Saravanan and his friends Mohammad Nazir, 25 of Alandur and Prabhu Ram, 37 of Pallikaranai, employed as contract labourers in the airport, for questioning.
Saravanan told police that he had direct access to flights as he supplied food meant for passengers. He along with Mohammad Nazir and Prabhu Ram, staff engaged in clearing garbage from flights, were working for a commission for gold smugglers.
Saravanan told police that they would receive information from the smugglers about where they would keep the gold and the identity of the person who was smuggling it.
The smuggler would either leave the gold on the passenger's seat or hidden in the garbage, as per instructions from the smuggling gang. “The workers on the pretext of cleaning the flight, would take the gold and would hide it in garbage and bring it outside to escape from being caught by the customs department,” said an investigating officer. None of them is subjected to checks.
Even if the customs department received information about smuggling of gold they would get nothing if they frisk the passengers. The Pallavaram police are probing further to know the entire network behind the racket.