The pilferage of seized gold from the restricted Customs warehouse by Mumbai airport customs personnel and its subsequent replacement upon discovery of the theft has left the department red-faced, even as it is plagued with a series of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrests of the men in white for extortion and corruption.
The irregularities at the Mumbai Airport Customs have been regularly highlighted by The Free Press Journal, such as the exposure of digital extortion rackets run by customsofficers threatening to arrest flyers in fake cases of gold smuggling. More skeletons continue to tumble out of the customs closet even after the riot act was read out by Customs Principal Chief Commissioner Roopam Kapoor, who had ordered the transfers of all 38 frontline customs officers in March.
Matter revealed after a US national filed complaint
The case of gold pilferage was revealed when a US national filed a complaint with Sahar Police Station about the missing 995 grams of gold coins deposited at the Mumbai Customs Warehouse, while on a visit to India in June 2021, which had led to panic in the Airport Customs Commissionerate.
The then airport customs commissioner had ordered an investigation of all 147 customs officials posted at the Customs K-DS-I and DO-IV warehouse between January 2020 and June 2021 and had identified Air Customs Officer Udai Gurjar, captured on CCTV footage, as the thief who had been stealing seized gold coins, gold bars, gold bracelets, goldanklets, rings, bracelets, chains and Rolex watches.
Airports Customs Commissioner Manish Mani Tiwari confirmed that a CBI investigation is underway in the case of the missing gold at Customs warehouse and said, “We are fully cooperating with CBI,” adding that he was not posted at the airport during that period.
An audit was ordered of all seizure records and deposit receipts in customs warehouse from January 15, 2020 to June 15, 2021, which led to the further discovery of the disappearance of 14 sealed packets containing seized precious metals and gemstones. Udai Gurjar had admitted to removing nine sealed packages containing gold but Customscould not account for the remaining five missing packets, which were pilfered before Gurjar was posted in Mumbai.
Customs officers contribute Rs 30,000 each and purchase 1 kg of gold
The customs officers decided on an elaborate cover-up, by asking all the 147 officers at the airport to contribute Rs 30,000 each and purchase one kilogramme of gold from a bullion trader for Rs 60 lakh, to replace the pilfered gold and pacify the US national, with the return of his missing gold coins.
“Customs officials erred by returning back the stolen gold with court orders. It was a police case for investigation but the cover-up created a bigger mess, with CBI taking over the case,” fumed a customs superintendent after being grilled by the agency last week.
Meanwhile, the air customs officer, Udai Gurjar, retracted his confession statement about the gold theft and alleged torture in illegal detention to make him the scapegoat for an organised syndicate of corrupt customs officers surreptitiously removing seized items deposited at the airport’s DO-IV warehouse since 2005, even before he was posted in Mumbai.
Mumbai Airport Customs routinely detain prohibited and dutiable items from foreign passengers on arrival and issue a detention receipt for the goods deposited in the customswarehouse, which can be collected on their way back to their country.
“Most of the seized items are returned for 15-25 per cent of the value from the warehouse and replaced with a similar item of lower value. Designer watches and purses are pilferages for personal use by customs officers. Gold items not claimed by the foreign nationals on tourist visas within 6-7 months are misappropriated by the customs officials,” said a CBI officer investigating the case.
A total of 94 customs superintendents and 53 customs inspectors are under CBI scrutiny for the pilferage of high-value items deposited in the customswarehouse and irregularities in maintaining records, audits and vigilance by senior customs officers.
