Bengaluru: A cleaning staffer at Bengaluru airport was allegedly offered Rs 70,000 to retrieve a 2-kg packet of gold secretly concealed under an aircraft seat and smuggle it out of the airport in a garbage van, the high court has observed while refusing to quash proceedings against him.Justice M Nagaprasanna dismissed a petition filed by Nandeesha N, a Devanahalli resident and employee of AI SATS, who was booked under the Customs Act for his alleged involvement in a gold-smuggling operation.The case dates back to June 29, 2025, when customs officials recovered 2 kg of 24-carat gold worth around Rs 1.9 crore from a Saudi Airlines flight from Jeddah that landed at Kempegowda International Airport. Nandeesha contended that the gold was never recovered from his possession and that the packet was found in a heap outside the jeep. The customs department, however, alleged that he was part of a larger gold-smuggling syndicate.According to the prosecution, the gold was brought into the country on an international flight and, before passengers disembarked, concealed beneath a predetermined seat — seat 39A in this case. The next link in the alleged chain was the cleaning staff. With legitimate access to the aircraft after passengers had left, a cleaner was allegedly tasked with retrieving the concealed gold, hiding it among garbage or cleaning material, and carrying it out of the aircraft and tarmac area under the guise of routine cleaning. The packet would then allegedly be handed over at a pre-arranged location to another member of the network.Part of big networkThe customs department’s notice alleged that Nandeesha was “hand in glove” with those involved in the smuggling operation. It alleged that, acting on the instructions of Mohan, he was to get the gold and help move it outside the airport in a garbage van.Rejecting Nandeesha’s plea to terminate the proceedings at the threshold, Justice Nagaprasanna said the questions surrounding the alleged operation could not be brushed aside at the investigation stage.“Who conceived the plan, who carried the gold from Jeddah, who concealed it beneath seat no. 39A, who communicated its location, who was to retrieve it, who was to carry it outside the secured area and into whose hands it was ultimately destined to reach are the questions that cannot be buried before they are even unearthed,” the judge observed.The court said the investigation could not be brought to a premature halt merely because the petitioner claimed innocence.“A nascent inquiry cannot be given a premature burial merely because the petitioner proclaims innocence. Innocence is a defence to be demonstrated in the proceedings, not a solitary ground to prevent the proceedings themselves,” Justice Nagaprasanna observed.The court accordingly dismissed Nandeesha’s petition, allowing the customs proceedings against him to continue.
