Kochi: When busting an Air India air hostess and her friend at Karipur International Airport in the wee hours of November 9 for smuggling in gold, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) had no clue that the incident would set off media brouhaha.
The women, one in her 20s and the other in 30s were nabbed as they flew in with three kg gold each from Dubai. Hiromasa Sebastian and Rahila Cheerayi have been in DRI/ judicial custody since then with the Economic Offence Court denying them bail, taking the offence seriously and fearing their release would encourage other racketeers.
But the rule is to grant bail if the gold seized from each passenger is worth below Rs 1 crore (three kg gold costs approximately Rs 90 lakh).
It was also alleged that actor Idavela Babu was linked to the racket as he had met the main accused Nabeel several times at his residence in Kochi.
HowÂever, DRI dismissed any links, saying the actor just knew the accused and nothing more. “We questioned Babu. He had visited the accused twice for discussing sponsorships for foreign stage shows. We are convinced that he is not linked to any smuggling,” said R. Rahul, assistant commissioner of Kochi DRI.
However, the presence of an airhostess, another young woman and an actor took the case to a new level, with the media zealously scanning every bit of the news. But DRI officials cite bigger instances of gold smuggling that went unnoticed.
“Whether they were attached to rackets or not, the two women had attempted to smuggle three kg gold each. Not that it was not an offence, but we have had bigger seizures. In May this year, we sealed a firm- Rajesh Exports at the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Kochi which used to bring 400-odd kg of gold every week without paying duty.
The firm, which was supposed to process it inside the SEZ and export it directly to UAE, instead canalised it to the domestic gold markets.
All the gold they brought from SwitzerÂland was actually sold to the jewelries here on the sly. They never paid any duty as they were housed at the SEZ,” said a DRI top official who probed the case.
The Reserve Bank of India mandates that 20 per cent of all gold imported has to be exported as the Government attempts to boost exports to narrow the Current Account Deficit.
The firm at SEZ was set up by Rajesh Exports for this purpose as it looked to export gold without paying duty.
However, the case is that the firm did not export the gold but instead ploughed it back to the domestic market, thus evading Rs 90 crore in three years, said the DRI.
Main accused Prashant J. Mehta is absconding and no attempts have made to reopen the company at SEZ, which was sealed by DRI. While raiding the company, the officials were surprised to find not even basic equipment on its premises.
In another incident, a truck carrying 600 gold bars (72 kg) was busted at Walayar check post by the Sales Tax officers two months ago.
The men in the truck said it was sent by a leading new generation bank in Chennai to its branch at Perinthalmanna in MalappÂuram and they forgot to carry papers.
The ST team asked them to remit RS 25 lakh as surety and leave with the gold. Within hours, a person surfaced and gave the surety, after which officials let off the car.
Till date the ST officers have not received any paper on the dubious-sourced consignment and no case taken as the officers had levied a penalty of Rs 25 lakh. But it could be a link to the gold smuggling rackets operating across South Indian states.
DRI officials followed up with officials of the bank’s branches at Perinthalmanna and ChenÂnai.
While the Perinthalmanna manager said they did not receive any such consignment, Chennai branch’s manager said it was meant for a branch at Kochi.
When the DRI approached the bank’s two branches in Kochi, they were told the banks had no clue about the gold. The blank faces put forth by the banks pose two questions: Who was transporting such a large quantity of gold and where did it vanish?
Incidents at the SEZ and the Walayar check post are graver but were strangely downplayed by the media than the Karipur incident, which was sensationalised because of the air-hostess and the other woman, within a little bit of filmi masala thrown in, commented a DRI official.
The DRI suspects a ring behind the smuggling at Karipur. In all three cases Karipur, SEZ and Walayar common factors are gold and tax evasion.
But each offence merits attention in proportion to its gravity or else we end up trapping minnows leaving out sharks.
