06 October,2012 11:14 PM IST | | Bipin Kumar Singh
A resident of South Mumbai's Napean sea road, Suken Mehta (50) tried to hide the diamonds in his undergarments and socks to avoid paying the 2 per cent customs duty on cut and polished diamonds, sources revealed.u00a0
Mehta, a passenger on Jet Airways flight 9W 75 Hongkong-Mumbai was intercepted by AIU Deputy Commissioner Sameer Wankhede while he was clearing green channel.
"During search, diamonds worth Rs two crore were recovered from his undergarments and socks. During the interrogation Mehta accepted that he did it deliberately to avoid duties," a customs official told MiD DAY on condition of anonymity.
"He is from a rich business background and frequently visits foreign destination for business. We have found that he visited eight foreign destinations in last few months and allegedly carried similar diamond consignment without paying the duty," officials further revealed. Mehta operates from BKC and Dahisar.
Mehta was arrested under different provisions of Indian Customs Act and was later granted bail on a surity of rupees two lakh.u00a0