"smuggling"

It was during routine checking that the passenger was caught smuggling six gold biscuits weighing about 1867.600 grams concealed in his luggage.

The searches which are primarily spread across West Bengal pertain to a new case registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

The searches were conducted at the residences of five accused -- Mohamed Aslam, Abdul Latheef, Nazarudheen Sha, Ramzan P and Muhammed Mansoor.

Sivasankar, arrested by the agency on October 28, was earlier sent to seven day custody of the ED.

The passenger, who arrived on a flight from Riyadh, had allegedly concealed the gold bars, worth Rs.12.22 lakh, in specially designed pockets of his jeans, officials said, adding that the passenger was detained for questioning.

Officials booked a case of smuggling of gold against the passenger who arrived by flight IX 1948 from Dubai.

The case, which is currently being probed by the Enforcement Directorate, the National Investigation Agency and the Customs Department, pertains to the smuggling of gold in the state through diplomatic channels.

City Police Commissioner Anjani Kumar said the nine member gang was smuggling gutkha into the city from Bidar in the neighbouring Karnataka.

The three were found to have allowed a van shipping teak timber by conniving with the smugglers belonging to Maharashtra during Covid-19 lockdown.