16 kg gold missing from customs' vault, CBI registers case

About 16 kg of gold has been stolen from the vaults of the Customs Department at the Indira Gandhi International Airport here, prompting the CBI to register a case in this regard.

The theft of gold, valued at about Rs four crore, surfaced during inspection of vaults by Stock Taking Committee between January 9 to February 21 this year.

The agency has registered a case of theft against unidentified persons.

This case is in addition to over 38 kg of missing gold reported earlier in which the CBI has already registered FIRs.

The committee during its inspection this year found that about 15.9 kg of gold valued at approximately Rs four crore (as per present rates) was missing, the FIR alleged.

It is alleged that the gold was either stolen or replaced with non-valuable material in 23 case properties which were seized by the Customs Department over a period of years.

The department keeps gold seized by it in packets in its vaults. It was alleged that the precious material was replaced with non-valuable material by unknown persons.

A Stock Taking Committee was constituted to analyse valuable items held at customs godown at the airport which found that in a large number of cases the seized gold was missing or was replaced by non-valuable metal.

(This article has not been edited by DNA's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)