CBI chargesheets 27 Customs officials for silk smuggling

New Delhi, Mar 1: The CBI has filed chargesheet against 31 people, including 27 officers of the Customs Department in connectiion with the 1988 Olga Kozireva smuggling case in which a large amount of Chinese silk was smuggled into India in connivance with Custom officials.

A case with regard to this was registered in March 2001 on a complaint by the Director General (Vigilance), Customs and Central Excise, the CBI said today.

The accused Customs officials had allowed Olga Kozireva and her Uzbek associate along with two other Afghan nationals to pass through the 'Green Channel' without payment of duty of the imported goods.

The smuggling had led to a loss of Rs one crore to the state exchequer.

UNI