New Delhi: Two persons, including an airport
employee, on Friday arrested at the IGI airport for allegedly
smuggling 8,000 memory cards worth over Rs 12 lakh, a senior
Customs official said.
Surinder Singh Arora, a resident of Tilak Nagar, arrived
here today on a Thai Airways flight (TG 323) from Hong Kong
via Bangkok along with 8,020 memory cards, the official said.
Arora deboarded the plane and went to the washroom of the
aerobridge and handed over the smuggled cards, packed in four
packets, to Kamaldeep Singh -- an employee of IT firm IDDS
posted at the airport.
"Singh concealed the packets in stocking and was to hand
over the goods to Arora at the domestic arrival, as there is a
way to reach the domestic arrival without crossing the
emigration and Customs offices," the official said.
Singh was arrested from the washroom, while Arora was
arrested when he was crossing the counters. Singh was to get
Rs 4,000 for clearing the goods.
In December last year, he helped in clearing 4,030 memory cards.
Both have confessed their involvement in smuggling and
the goods have been seized under the Customs Act, police said.
Similar cases were recorded in the past where people had
tried to smuggle cheap memory cards from Hong Kong.
Airport operator Delhi International Airport Limited said
that IDDS was appointed by it directly.
"Customs had requested DIAL to close a door in the
Customs area, which was done. At present, only Immigration
staff have access rights to this door strictly on the basis of
biometric access control cards. Immigration requires this
access due to their operational reasons," a DIAL spokesperson
said in a statement.
PTI
