CHENNAI: A contract labourer at the Chennai airport was arrested after Customs officials found him carrying 1.2 kg of gold, worth Rs 62 lakh, inside his lunch box on Sunday. As they were checking contract staff who were returning after work on Sunday evening, the security officers at the exit gate of the Chennai airport found that the lunch box of one of the workers was heavier than usual.

Growing suspicious, they opened the box and found that he was carrying gold in paste form. On extraction, the gold was found to weigh about 1.2 kg. The officers immediately detained the worker and handed him over to the Customs officials at the airport.

During interrogation, the worker reportedly said he received the gold from a Sri Lankan passenger who came from Dubai and proceeded to Sri Lanka as a transit passenger. The worker claimed that the passenger asked him to hand over the gold to a person who would be waiting outside the airport. The Customs officials arrested the worker and have registered a case. Further investigation is on.