Mumbai:
These are busy times for Customs officials at the Mumbai International Airport.
Hot on the heels of a 50-year-old woman being caught for carrying sex toys in commercial quantities on Monday, comes the case of one of India's leading stockbrokers, who was not only carrying undeclared goods worth more than Rs 8 lakh but had also, puzzlingly, hid some of the bills for the items in his socks.
Needless to say, it took just one cursory search from the officials for the invoices to come tumbling out.
Ketan Marwadi, a stockbroker from Rajkot, who was returning from a one-day business trip to Dubai, landed at the Mumbai Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport at 2.45 am on Tuesday.
He was passing through the green channel when Deputy Commissioner of Customs Sameer Wankhede stopped him.
Marwadi was found to be carrying a high-end cell phone worth Rs 2.5 lakh, a luxury watch worth the same amount, a handbag valued at Rs 50,000, liquor worth Rs 40,000 and Rs 50,000 in Indian currency all of which were undeclared.
"The businessman was caught as we noticed him crossing the green channel in a very suspicious manner.
He initially pretended that he had declared all the items, but his bluff was called when we found some bills for them in his socks hidden, apparently, to ensure that we did not find out the real value of the goods," said an Air Intelligence Unit (AIU) official, who investigated the matter.
"Marwadi was arrested for carrying undeclared goods worth Rs 8 lakh, including watches and electronic items. The officer-on-duty informed me that he had kept all the bills of the goods he was carrying in his socks. He was released in the afternoon," confirmed Additional Commissioner (AIU) Mahendra Pal.
Ketan Marwadi is the chief promoter and chairman-cum-managing director of Marwadi Shares and Finance Limited (MSFL), a stock broking house, ranked 5th in the country in 2008 in terms of the number of trading terminals. Marwadi is also the chief promoter of the Marwadi Education Foundation
"I have given my statement to the Customs and all the goods are in their custody. The rumours related to my arrest are baseless," said Marwadi.