NRI Arjun Singh
from Dubai arrested at New Delhi Airport for smuggling
Rs 8.6m foreign currencies
NRI (non-resident Indian) businessman
and his son from Dubai travelling all the time
to India in hawala business. Both the father and
son were on the Customs' watchlist.
Read More:
NRI held with Rs 8.6m foreign
currencies at Indian airport
NEW DELHI, July 31, 2005
PTI
In the largest haul in 10 years, India's Airport
Customs yesterday seized Rs8.6 million worth foreign
currencies from a Dubai-based NRI businessman at
the Indira Gandhi International Airport here and
arrested the carrier.
Customs officials suspect that the currencies were
meant for making some hawala transactions, Joint
Commissioner Customs Neeraj Kansal told reporters
here.
The currencies, in varied denominations of US dollars,
euros, sterling pounds and Saudi riyals, were seized
from Arjun Singh, a Dubai-based cloth merchant yesterday
morning, he said.
Singh, a frequent traveller to India, was on the
Customs' watchlist since the September 2004 arrest
of his son Hardeep, who was caught when he attempted
to bring in foreign currencies worth Rs 450,000,
the joint commissioner said. Customs officials suspected
some foul play when Singh, on his way to Dubai by
a Gulf Air flight, hurried to clear bales of cloth
through X-ray security check.
Upon close observation it was found that the cloth
was rolled over wads of currencies instead of a
wooden or iron rod to make it a bale. "It was
all genuine foreign currencies comprising euros,
US dollars, Saudi riyals and sterling pounds,"
Kansal said.
He said officials suspect that the case was a typical
example of hawala transaction. “Airport Customs
have detected 12 cases of smuggling of currencies
and seized Rs5.7 million since April this year.
But today's was the single biggest haul in 10 years,"
Kansal said.
Singh, a frequent visitor to Greater Kailash-II
colony, always travelled business class and this
was his third visit to the national capital. During
interrogation he said he had visited Delhi 11 times
since January. "It appears that the accused
and his family have been involved in hawala business
for some time," Joint Commissioner Kansal said.
In September 2004, Singh's son Hardeep was arrested
while attempting to smuggle out foreign currencies
worth Rs450,000. Both the father-son duo have been
on the Customs' watchlist since then, he said.
Kansal said they believe Singh was involved in
Hawala transactions wherein payment of cash is made
in other countries in hard currency against money
deposited with an agent in India or against luxury
items smuggled into India.
