Representative image of an arrest.
Credit: iStock Photo
Surat: Four persons have been arrested for allegedly smuggling gold worth Rs 65 lakh by spraying it on trolley bags to evade security checks at the international airport in Gujarat's Surat, police said on Monday.
The accused allegedly smuggled gold from Dubai by mixing it with chemicals and spraying it on rexine and rubber sheets of trolley bags, the official said.
According to an official statement, the Special Operations Group (SOG) arrested four persons who were part of a gang and seized 927 gm of gold worth around Rs 65 lakh on Sunday.
The gang members sent a couple from Surat to Dubai, where their accomplice handed them gold in liquid form.
The gold was mixed with chemicals and sprayed on trolley bags to evade security checks at the Surat International Airport, the SOG said.
The accused managed to evade immigration checks and were going to deliver the smuggled gold to their gang members at a hotel, it said.
"Based on a tip-off, the SOG team conducted a raid at a hotel and arrested four persons, including a woman," the statement said.
The accused, Naeem Saleh (29), Umaima Saleh (25), Abdul Bemat (33), and Firoz Nur (48), are residents of Mangrol in Surat district, it said.
The accused have been booked under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita for cheating, forgery and criminal conspiracy.