The son of a Rajya Sabha Member (MP) was stopped at Kozhikode Airport on suspicion of being a gold smuggler, and he was stripped naked as part of the Customs examination.
It happened on November 1. Customs agents were informed that a passenger arriving on the Air Arabia flight from Sharjah that day would be bringing in gold for the black market.
The MP’s son was detained by the Customs agents during the inspection and his clothing and luggage were thoroughly inspected. He also took off his clothes for the occasion. Even after the young man identified himself as the MP’s son, the officials kept doing the check.
The young man was transported to a hospital for an x-ray to look for any gold hidden inside his body after neither his clothing nor bag contained any gold.
The young man was able to speak with his relatives and have them speak with Customs officers while everything was happening. But at that point, the Customs inspections were all complete. The MP’s kid was released because gold could not be found, not even after an x-ray.
The MP’s kin said that Customs personnel disregarded the correct protocol. According to them, a passenger could only be undressed and subjected to an x-ray with their consent or with a magistrate’s approval.
Following the incident, the MP complained to the Central Government and asked that the involved Customs personnel be disciplined.
Customs authorities said that they had mistakenly detained the MP’s son and that their true objective was another traveller on the trip with the same name.
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