Congress MP Shashi Tharoor’s former aide has been detained at the Indira Gandhi International airport here for allegedly assisting in smuggling of gold, officials said on Thursday.
The former staffer of Tharoor was held with a 500 gm gold chain, they said.
According to the customs department, the man had received the gold chain from a passenger in the arrival hall, whom he had come to receive at the airport.
The authorities have registered a case against the passenger who had arrived from Bangkok on Wednesday over suspicion of gold smuggling.
A customs official said the individual who had come to receive the passenger had a valid Aerodrome Entry Permit, and the circumstances of acquisition of the same by him, as part of the protocol team for a Member of Parliament, are being looked into.
The total amount of gold recovered in this regard is worth Rs 35.22 lakh, and was accordingly seized by officials under section 110 of the Customs Act, 1962.
Further probe is underway in the matter, the customs department added.
Meanwhile, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, taking to platform ‘X’, said, “I do not condone any alleged wrongdoing and fully support the authorities in their efforts to take any necessary action as may be required to investigate the matter. The law must take its own course.”
The politician said he was in Dharamshala for campaigning, and was shocked to hear about the said incident involving a former member of his staff, who has been rendering part-time service to him in terms of airport facilitation assistance.
Tharoor added that the man is a 72-year-old retiree who is undergoing frequent dialysis and was retained on a part time basis on compassionate grounds.