Mumbai: The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) on Thursday arrested four Nigerian flyers for allegedly smuggling 5kg of gold worth over Rs 4crore. On specific intelligence, DRI sleuths intercepted Dido Aliya Mascud, Sheikh Benazir Abdi, Ismail Itahil Mohammed, and Farah Abdi on their arrival at the city airport from Nairobi. Following a search yellow metal bars and jewellery purported to be gold were recovered from underneath their burkhas. Their advocate Prabhakar Tripathi informed the court: “Their arrest is unjustified and legally questionable. As per the Customs Act, recoveries below Rs 50 lakh do not warrant arrest. Farah was found with 470gm gold, Benazir 205gm and Ismail Istahil too had a recovery valued at less than Rs 1 crore. Despite this, the DRI unlawfully amalgamated these recoveries to inflate the case… Moreover, the delay of 24 hours in producing them before the court further raises concerns.” The court, however, sent them to judicial custody. MSID:: 118024999 413 |