Mumbai, Sep 13 (IANS): The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) on Tuesday arrested a man and his woman accomplice from the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport and seized 2.5 kg smuggled gold worth Rs 1.3 crore from their possession.

A senior CISF official said the man was apprehended at around 3:40 p.m. on Tuesday based on behaviour detection.

"We observed suspicious activities by a passenger who was loitering near a glass partition between domestic boarding gates No. 86 and 87 on Level 3. He was placed under electronic and physical surveillance.

"During surveillance, we noticed that a black pouch was thrown from the glass partition of the international boarding gate No. 86 on Level 4. Subsequently, based on behaviour detection, CISF surveillance and intelligence staff identified suspicious activities by a woman passenger who appeared to be the accomplice of the man," the official said.

The CISF learnt that the accused, identified as Jalal Y. Jalaludeen and Shajitha Begum, were scheduled to travel from Mumbai to Coimbatore on an Air India flight.

Both the passengers were intercepted, and they, along with their hand baggage, were taken to the Customs office for further interrogation. Upon physically inspecting their baggage, six oval-shaped yellow metal (gold) items wrapped in black tape were found in the handbags of both passengers.

"Jalaludeen and Begum admitted that the gold, in paste form, belonged to them and that they had received it from an international passenger who passed the item to them by throwing it over the glass partition separating the domestic and international boarding gates area," said the official.

Subsequently, both passengers, along with approximately 2.5 kg of yellow metal paste worth Rs 1.3 crore, were handed over to Customs officials for further action.