“The total worth of the cargo according to the official complaint is valued to be around Rs 4.50 crore-the gold is estimated to be around Rs 10 lakh, while the rest is diamonds and other jewels. The consignment was on its way from Bangkok on Thursday night in a Thai Airways passenger flight. The aircraft taxied to the bay and offloaded the precious consignment. Our line of investigation has led us to believe that it was not handled properly from that point. In the last 24 hours, we have questioned the authorities concerned and every person in the line of offloading, including all the handlers and loaders,” said Janardan Garje, Assistant commissioner of Police (ACP) (Airport division). According to Garje, it was in a container marked “precious metals” and had gold and diamonds packed separately.

“When we discovered that the consignment was missing, we promptly informed the police. This is all that can be told at this stage as everything is under investigation,” said a spokesperson for Air India, which is the complainant in the case as it’s their agency that handles the goods for the Thai Airways. The container with its seal opened and the consignment missing was found in the dumping ground, said Garje, adding, “Procedures to be followed when a precious consignment arrives were definitely not followed.”

K L Prasad, Joint Commissioner of Police (law and order) said, “The matter is still under investigation. From the time it was offloaded, there are various channels it would have passed through. The investigation will now go backward to track the offender.”