Ahmedabad:

A couple from Rajasthan was detained at Ahmedabad airport for allegedly trying to smuggle two high-end watches worth approximately Rs 13 crore from Dubai on Friday, officials in the Customs Department said on Sunday.

The Audemars Piguet Royal Oak and Richard Mille watches, mostly spotted on the wrists of billionaires or celebrities, were seized from the man and the woman, who arrived separately at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport from Dubai. 

According to the officials, one of them spotted the woman with one of the watches on her arrival from Dubai. Upon interrogation, she said it was gifted by her husband. When she was asked about her husband’s whereabouts, she said he was arriving on another flight.

The woman’s husband, the officials said, was caught when he was trying to exit the airport on his arrival. He initially claimed that the watch belonged to him and that it cost around Rs 1,000. When he was asked to produce a bill, he said he did not have one. 

As authorities searched his belongings, they found the case for the watch. The man then admitted to smuggling the item, the officials said. 

The couple was subsequently detained and upon interrogation, said they belong to Pratapgarh in Rajasthan. They said they were made to travel to Dubai to bring the watches to Ahmedabad, the officials added. 

The officials said a detailed probe is underway.

(With inputs from Mahendra Prasad)

Ahmedabad:

A man and his wife were arrested in Ahmedabad in Gujarat after they sped off in their SUV with a policeman perched precariously on the bonnet of the vehicle as the couple tried to flee during a combing drive, an official said on Sunday.

The policeman was injured in the legs and hands and narrowly escaped being run over by a dumper after he fell off from the bonnet due to the SUV’s speed, he added.

“The driver tried to run over policemen when he was signalled to stop during a combing drive at 11:15pm on Saturday. In order to stop them, police personnel Nitesh Ramji clung on to the bonnet of the car. He was dragged for some distance by the SUV, leaving him with injuries on the hands and legs. When he fell, he was in danger of being crushed by a dumper, which braked in time,” the Chandkheda police station official said.

“Another policeman, who held on to the top of the half-opened window on the driver’s side, was also thrown off as the vehicle gathered speed. The man and his co-occupant, who is his wife, have been arrested on charges of attempt to murder and causing grievous hurt to a public servant. The woman had signalled to her husband to speed away,” the official informed.

Further probe into the incident is underway, the Chandkheda police station official said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Ahmedabad:

The principal of a government school was thrashed by a group of people when he went to survey a madrasa in Ahmedabad on Saturday, police said.

The police have arrested two men after a case was registered against five to seven persons for unlawful assembly, rioting and voluntarily causing hurt, robbery and criminal intimidation, a police official said.

Sandeep Patel, principal of Shruti Higher Secondary School, went to the madrasa in the Dariyapur locality of the city to collect details, including the number of students there and about its infrastructure, as part of a government exercise, the official said.

Finding the premises closed, he began taking photos of it from outside. Just then, a group of people approached him and demanded to know what he was doing.

Despite explaining to the group that he was a school principal and taking the pictures as per a government order, they thrashed him and snatched away his mobile phone and documents.

The group also threatened to kill him, Mr Patel said in his complaint, adding that he somehow escaped from the spot. “We have arrested two persons in this connection. Further investigation is underway,” the Dariyapur police station official said.

Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) education committee officer Labdhir Desai said several such premises were surveyed as per the government order.

“We conducted a survey on 175 madrasas and each team consisted of two members. We received support during the exercise,” he said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)