On April 20, AIU officers intercepted five unaccompanied articles of baggage that had arrived from Hong Kong by a Swissair flight. They had been registered in the name of Kriplani, who declared them to be personal belongings. They were, however, found to contain electronic goods like mobile phones, accessories, fax modems and integrated circuits.

After the seizure, Kriplani had evaded Customs and even left Mumbai. On July 16, Customs received an order from the HP High Court, which had granted Kriplani anticipatory bail. Kriplani was directed by the court to report to the Mumbai Customs.

During interrogation, she said the consignment had been booked in her name fromHong Kong by one Prakash Sharma, whom she had met in March. Sharma had taken a photocopy of her passport. Kriplani said that since she apprehended arrest, she did not clear the unaccompanied baggage and left Mumbai.

She added that on earlier occasions, several unaccompanied articles of baggage had been dispatched to Mumbai in her name and that she had received Rs 5,000 for each. She said that on previous occasions, one Harish had arranged for the payment, with respect to duty clearance.