MUMBAI, NOV 8: Officers of Seepz customs, a wing of airport customs, on Sunday arrested one Bhupendra Kapadia, director of a gem and jewellry unit, Neel Kamal Jewellry Exports Limited, for alleged smuggling of cut diamonds worth Rs 10 crore and gold worth Rs 39 lakh.The unit was manufacturing diamond-studded gold jewellry and is allowed the import of cut and polished diamonds and gold solely for the purpose of manufacture of export jewellry. The owners of the unit allegedly surreptitiously removed the diamonds and gold from the SEEPZ unit for sale locally.A stock-taking by customs officers revealed that the unit had 27,000 carat cut and polished diamonds and ten kgs of gold short, thus indicating smuggling and therefore, duty evasion of Rs five crore.Kapadia allegedly also admitted that he himself was personally responsible for the clandestine removal and sale in the local market.The case was detected by Assistant Commissioner I Vikraman under the supervision of Joint Commissioner T R Malik and Commissioner Yuvraj Gupta.
