New Delhi:
A man has been arrested for allegedly trying to smuggle into the country gold bars worth about Rs 77 lakh.
The accused was intercepted by customs officials at the international airport here after his arrival from Bahrain on Thursday.
"During his personal search, he was allegedly found carrying three kgs of gold. The recovered gold is valued at Rs 76.44 lakh," a customs official said.
The passenger was arrested and gold bars were seized, he said. In another incident on the same day, an employee of a sub-contractor firm engaged by Delhi airport was arrested with two kg gold valued at Rs 50.96 lakh.
Earlier on Wednesday, three persons were arrested for allegedly trying to smuggle in 933.12 grams of gold bars worth Rs 24 lakh.
There has been a surge in cases of gold smuggling across the country.
Customs officials at the international airport here have registered 363 cases of gold smuggling and seized 353 kg of the precious metal during 2013-14. The value of the seized gold is approximately Rs 90 crore, officials said, adding 123 arrests were made in these cases.