Rs 50 lakh gold found under aircraft seat at the Chennai Airport

Chennai: Customs officials on Sunday secured 200 sovereigns of gold jewellery worth nearly half a crore from an aircraft at the Chennai Airport. Airlines staff informed airport security about an abandoned bag under a flight seat after which the gold jewellery was found.

Airport sources said that the bag was found in an Indigo Airlines flight, which landed in the city around 6.30 am. The flight was from Singapore. "The same flight was to be used as a domestic flier and the flight was set to leave the Chennai airport to Delhi by 10 am," according to an airport official.

Meanwhile, the airlines staff who were preparing the aircraft for the next schedule found a 'yellow bag' under one of the seats. Alarmed, the staff alerted the airport manager and the security team rushed to the aircraft. "The security team had to make sure that the bag did not contain any explosive contents and the usual measures were taken before the bag was secured," the official added. After it was found that the bag contained jewellery, it was handed over to the customs officials. Customs suspect that the bag could've been left behind by a smuggler so that one of his accomplice would walk away with it when the flight lands at Delhi.