Chennai, March 21: Gold weighing 5.55 kg hidden in wigs and worth Rs 2.53 crore was seized in different incidents from six plane passengers who arrived here from Dubai on Sunday at Chennai International Airport, said Customs officials. Besides gold, foreign currencies equivalent to Rs 24 lakh were confiscated. The currencies too were hidden beneath the wigs, the officials said.

The six, hailing from Tamil Nadu, had their heads partly tonsured to hide the currencies, they said, adding that the passengers were arrested. In the first incident, the officials of the air intelligence wing intercepted the passengers with suspicious hairstyles at the international terminal. On examination, the sleuths recovered the precious metal and currencies concealed beneath wigs.

The accused had partly tonsured their heads to hide the currencies, they said. In the second incident, the officials retrieved gold bars after searching an aircraft.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)