Bhatkal: A Bhatkali passenger's watch worth Rs 48 lakhs was broken into pieces by custom officials at the Kozhikode airport in Kerala on suspicion that gold was hidden inside the watch. Muhammad Ismail, a resident of Kargadde in Bhatkal, has lodged a complaint against the custom officials at the Calicut police station.
It is reported that Muhammad Ismail went to Dubai on a one-month visit visa, where his brother owns a business. On March 3, when he landed at Kozhikode airport in Kerala on the pretext of getting cheaper fare ticket on return to Bhatkal, Custom officials asked him to take off his watch and suspected that he was trying to smuggle gold by hiding in the watch. Officials took his watch in a room, where they smashed it into pieces with a hammer. When nothing was found, the pieces of watch were placed on a plate and returned to passenger. Noticing his expensive watch split into pieces, shocked Muhammad Ismail, asked how the Custom authorities could return the costliest watch in such a manner, demanding that his watch be returned to him in good condition. It is learned that as soon as the top Custom officials came to know about the incident, they too were trying to dismantle the watch. It is learned that the officials offered Rs 10 lakhs to settle the matter, but Muhammad Ismail showed the receipt of the watch purchased from Dubai and demanded Rs 48 lakh or return of the original watch.
Upon learning of the incident, KM Basheer, a social worker from Calicut, viralized the whole incident on social media and raised the question asking how can a person smuggle gold in a watch which weighs hardly 100 grams? As news spread on social media, Kerala's news channels also came into action. On social media, people have asked how many kilos of gold can be hidden in a watch that weighs 100 grams? People are not only expressing shock at the move of the Customs officials but also expressing concern whether it was possible to smuggle gold in a watch? KM Basheer's Facebook post has been viewed by around one million people so far with 19,000 people have shared it and around 2,000 people have posted their impressions.
It is learned that the watch was given to Ismail by his brother Ibrahim, who lives in Dubai, who bought it from the second hand market in 2017 for 2,26,000 dirhams (approximately Rs. 48 lakhs). The watch was used by Ibrahim since then, when Ismail was on his way back to Bhatkal, Ibrahim handed over the watch to Ismail. As there is no duty on the used watch, the customs officials broke the watch on suspicion of smuggling gold.
In this regard, Ismail's brother Ibrahim, while talking to SahilOnline, expressed his suspicion that when the Customs officials took the watch from his brother's hand and took it inside the room, it is possible that they might have put it inside and presented the other broken watch in the tray, because the watch was not broken in front of Ismail. The value of this brand new watch called 'AUDEMARS PIGUET' is more than Rs 60 lakhs. Since he had bought a second hand watch, he got this watch for around Rs. 48 lakhs.
A case has been registered at the Calicut police station.