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AI commander detained for gold smuggling

In a rare case, a senior pilot with national carrier Air India drawing a monthly salary of Rs 5.5 lakh was allegedly caught smuggling gold by the Air Intelligence Unit (AIU) of the Mumbai global airport on Wednesday morning.

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According to the AIU, the accused pilot, Vijay Pratap, has been flying for the last two decades.

Mumbai: A senior pilot of Air India was booked by airport Customs on Wednesday for allegedly smuggling gold bars worth Rs 16 lakh. “He was attempting to surreptitiously remove the gold bars”. He was in charge of a Jeddah-Mumbai flight.

“A search of his baggage revealed seven gold bars worth Rs. 15.65 lakh, which were seized”. An officer said.”We didn’t believe in his story”. It was seized under the Provisions of Custom Act, 1962. “The commander, while being questioned, admitted to possession, carriage and concealment of the gold bars”, said an official. “Pratap stated that he received a parcel at Jeddah”. But since the value of the smuggled goods was under Rs 20 lakh, Pratap was not arrested.

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AIU is now investigating if the senior pilot was involved in a similar case earlier. “In the light of the recent instances of smuggling by crew members of the airlines, high level of surveillance has been installed by airport customs staff for the crew and passengers”, said AK Jyotishi, principal commissioner of customs, Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA).

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