New Delhi, Jun 19 (PTI) Two men, a Thai national and a staffer of Vistara airlines, have been arrested for allegedly smuggling gold into India valuing about Rs 58 lakh at the international airport here, a customs official said on Monday.

A case was booked in this regard on June 12 against the Thailand national, who had arrived here from Dubai, he said.

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The accused passenger planned to go back to Bangkok (Thailand) on the same day, the officer said.

During investigation, it emerged that he admittedly smuggled the gold in paste form by handing over it to an airline staff, who further acted clandestinely to take it outside the airport without declaring it to the customs and with intention to evading payment of customs duty, according to a statement issued on Monday by the customs department.

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Total 1.12 kg of gold, valued at Rs 57.65 lakh, has been obtained from the gold paste, it said.

The gold was seized and both the accused were arrested, the statement said.

A senior customs officer said the accused worker is employed with Vistara as its customer service junior assistant.

Vistara is a joint venture of Tata Sons Private Limited and Singapore Airlines Limited (SIA), wherein Tata Sons holds 51 per cent stake in partnership and Singapore Airlines owns 49 per cent stake.

(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)