Hydroponic weed, diamonds and gold worth Rs 14 crore seized at Mumbai airport
Mumbai (PTI): Customs officials seized hydroponic weed, diamonds and gold, collectively worth about Rs 14 crore, at Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport over two days and arrested an airport staffer and a few others, officials said on Saturday.
The seizures were made between December 30 and December 31 in separate cases, they said.
Officials from the Airport Commissionerate, Mumbai Customs Zone-III, confiscated 8.008 kg of suspected hydroponic weed from a passenger who had arrived from Bangkok, the official said.
The contraband is valued at around Rs 8.008 crore in the illicit market, he said, adding that the passenger was arrested under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.
In a separate case, 1.946 kg of suspected hydroponic weed worth about Rs 1.946 crore was recovered from a passenger who also had arrived from Bangkok, the official said.
Hydroponic weed, a potent and expensive form of ganja, is cultivated using water-based, nutrient-rich solutions instead of traditional soil methods.
Officials said a passenger was intercepted and 849.6 carats of diamonds, valued at about Rs 2.52 crore, were recovered from him. The precious stones had been allegedly concealed inside his body cavity, they said.
Customs also seized 1,470 grams of 24-carat gold dust in wax form, valued at around Rs 1.87 crore, from a passenger and a staffer attached to Air India Airport Services Limited (AIASL), an official said.
The gold dust was allegedly passed by one Bangladeshi transit passenger to another, who then handed it over to the AIASL employee inside the airport.
In another case, Customs booked a passenger after recovering 89 grams of 24-carat gold rhodium-plated buttons worth Rs 11.35 lakh, officials said.
Acting on specific information, a Customs team also recovered 160 grams of 24-carat gold worth Rs 20.41 lakh from two passengers, they said.
Efforts are being made to trace the wider networks linked to the seized gold, diamonds and drugs, the officials added.
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Mangaluru: Man sentenced to 20 years rigorous imprisonment in POCSO case
Mangaluru: A court in Mangaluru has sentenced a 44-year-old man to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment in connection with a case under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
According to Deccan Herald, the Additional District and Sessions Judge, FTSC-II (POCSO), Maanu K S, delivered the judgment.
The convict has been identified as Dayanand Moolya (44).
According to Special Public Prosecutor Sahana Devi Boloor, the incident occurred on November 16, 2025, when a seven-year-old girl was studying alone at home and the accused illegally entered the house and raped her. He threatened to kill her and throw her into a well if she revealed it to anyone.
The survivor later informed her mother, following which a complaint was registered at Mulki Police Station on November 22. Police Inspector Manjunath B S investigated the case and submitted the charge sheet to the court.
For the rape, under POCSO Section 6, along with Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) Act 65(2) and POCSO 4(2), the man has been sentenced to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs 30,000. For illegal entry into the house, under BNS Section 332(B), the convict has been sentenced to three years of simple imprisonment and a fine of Rs 5,000. For issuing death threats, under BNS Section 351(3), he has been sentenced to two years of simple imprisonment and a fine of Rs 5,000.
The court also directed payment of Rs 4 lakh as compensation to the survivor, including Rs 40,000 from the fine amount, and instructed the District Legal Services Authority to provide the remaining Rs 3.60 lakh.
