The bold and welcome decision of the Government of India to allow import of 5 Kgs of gold on payment of nominal duty by each of the incoming passengers of India origin, has many security implications which are to be taken note of and remedial measures devised.

Large number of passengers bound for India are expected to carry the maximum permissible quantity of gold. Presence of this volume of valuables in a single flight will itself act as an incentive for mischief mongers to attempt at hijacking the Aircraft. Therefore, stringent anti-hijacking measures are to be taken, particularly by Air India, patronised by Indians.

Incoming flights land in India in the early hours. Most of the passengers will be using public transport/taxis to reach their destinations in the cities. There have been many cases in the past of unwary passengers being robbed of their possessions at isolated places enroute to the city. With the import of gold, the temptation for the criminals to waylay the passengers will be irresistible. Therefore, the Police will have to take special precautions to ensure that hold ups and armed robberies of incoming passengers do not take place.

Concentration of large quantity of gold at the airport at the time of arrival of flights itself will attract the attention of criminals. Present security arrangements at the airports neither cater for locating and neutralising professional criminals nor geared to meet the threat of an armed robbery at the arrival terminals. Adequate security measures to forestall armed robberies, operation of professional criminals, cheats etc. at the airports are indicated.

State Bank of India should open special counters at International Airports to receive the gold from incoming passengers in exchange for Gold Bonds or value at market prices either in cash or by draft.

Present procedure for payment of duty after customs inspection, necessitates the passengers leaving the baggage at customs counter to pay the duty and then return to obtain customs clearance. This gives ample scope for mischief. It should be made possible for the passengers to deposit the import duty in foreign exchange in advance with Air India at the embarking station itself and obtain a receipt. Since the quantity of gold and the quantum of import duty is known, there will be no difficulty in computing and paying the amount in advance by the passenger. Customs authorities in India can verify the amount due and collect the receipts and Air accounts. This may, at best, require certain amendments to the existing customs procedure and is not likely to create any insurmountable problems considering the enormous convenience to the passengers.

At the Airports, in the arrival terminals, surveillance by plain clothes detectives to locate criminals are to be undertaken. It may become necessary to restrict the number of visitors and also ensure better orderliness at the arrival terminals.

The route between the Airport and the city should be intensively patrolled by the police to prevent hold ups etc. For the same purpose strict check of Airport taxis/antecedents of drivers will have to be undertaken.