CHENNAI: The Customs officials at the Chennai airport seized gold worth Rs 90 lakh from an airport contract worker on Monday.

The officials noticed Meblin (32), an airport contract labour, going inside the restroom that is used by the transit passengers. As he took a long time to come out, they grew suspicious, and followed Meblin. The official found that he exited from the international terminal and went to the domestic terminal (T1).

The sleuths intercepted Meblin in the domestic terminal. During questioning, they found he was evasive in his replies, which prompted a personal search. They found Meblin had gold hidden in his clothes. The officials found the gold weighing about 1.5 kg worth Rs 90 lakh.

During the investigation, the officials found that a passenger who came from Dubai had kept the gold inside the toilet and went to the domestic terminal. Meblin was asked to take the gold from the toilet and hand it over to the passenger who was waiting in the domestic terminal.

But before they could nab the passenger, he escaped from the airport, reportedly after finding out that the worker was caught. A case has been registered and the customs are trying to identify the passenger with the help of CCTV footage.