Gold smuggling: Accused sent to judicial custody

MANGALORE: Chief judicial magistrate court here has remanded AbrarulHaque Bhatkal (39), who was nabbed for transshipping gold illegally, to judicial custody till March 2. Abrarul was nabbed by the sleuths of the directorate of revenue intelligence for transshipping six kgs of gold worth Rs 1.80 crore at Mangalore International Airport (MIA) on Saturday. He was carrying the gold ornaments in chocolate boxes on board the Dubai - Mangalore Air India IX 384 flight that landed at MIA at 5.30pm. Officials had detained and questioned him based on a tip off. Informed sources said that the gold ornaments were kept hidden under chocolate layer in the box. "Abrarul, who has no job in Dubai, is believed to be a carrier and there is a suspicion of a racket working behind him," sources said. TNN