Three students travelling to Dubai were caught at Pune airport with over $400,000 (around ₹3.47 crore) hidden in notebooks, with officials saying they were unaware of the smuggling attempt and had received the bags from a Pune-based travel agent who claimed they contained office documents.
The seizure was made as Pune Customs were probing a suspected hawala racket involving foreign currency smuggling. Acting on a tip-off, officials learned that a large amount of foreign currency was concealed between the pages of notebooks carried by three women students travelling to Dubai.
Indian authorities had alerted officials in Dubai, who sent the students back to India. They were intercepted at Pune airport on February 17, where customs officials recovered over $400,000 (around ₹3.47 crore) from their baggage.
Further investigation led to the detention of a Pune-based travel agent and a Mumbai-based forex trader linked to the case.
Officials said that during questioning, the students revealed that Pune-based travel agent Khushbu Agarwal had given them the bags before their departure, claiming they contained documents for her office in Dubai.
Agarwal was detained, and her questioning led to the arrest of Mumbai-based Mohd Aamir, who had supplied the foreign currency.
“Agarwal had given the travel package to these three students for their Dubai trip. At the last minute before departure from Pune, she handed over two bags to students on the pretext that they contained her office documents urgently required at her Dubai office. The students accepted these bags and departed from Pune,” PTI quoted an official statement.
During questioning, she admitted to owning the seized foreign currency. Based on this, a search team was sent to a forex firm in Mumbai, where officials apprehended Mohd Aamir, who had supplied the foreign currency, the Customs Department said.
Further searches at the firm led to the discovery of foreign currencies from multiple countries.
AIU and Customs officers also carried out raids at 10 locations across Pune, Ahmedabad, and Mumbai. Both accused were later sent to judicial custody.
With PTI inputs