NEW DELHI: Customs officials posted at Indira Gandhi International Airport have come under scrutiny as the Delhi Police has issued a notice to the department asking it to submit a list of the custodians of its vault over the past 20 years. The step was taken after 23.6kg of gold, worth Rs 6.16 crore, was reported missing mysteriously from the high security customs vault.
The matter was disclosed after two FIRs regarding the theft were registered by the customs department in June 2015 and March 2014. Police now suspect that more seized being gold kept in the vault is fake and have asked the officials concerned to join them for probe.
According to the airport sources, the gold was found missing after the packets containing it, covered and sealed at the instance of courts, were opened before a departmental committee as part of inventory proceedings. A test was conducted on suspicion and it was revealed that the sealed material was not gold, the sources said.
The total amount of gold was seized in ten separate instances from passengers who had allegedly tried to smuggle it through the Delhi international airport between 1989 and 2000. “We have registered the complaints and sent a notice to the customs department asking for a list of officers who have been custodian of the vault. The officers who were in charge of the vault shall be asked to join the probe,” DCP, IGI, Dinesh Kumar Gupta, said. Police have demanded custody of the fake metal.
Highly-placed sources told TOI that the vault at the Indira Gandhi International airport contains over 900kg of gold seized over 35-40 years. Custom officials said that an internal inquiry has been initiated. They also said that it is not possible to provide details of all employees since 1989 as the department has not kept a record of retired or transferred officials.
“In most of the cases, gold is being replaced with a yellow metal. It is a concern for the department as well. It is not possible for the department to name all employees who worked 25 years ago. However, a list of about 35 officials has already been handed over to police,” said a senior customs official.
