Shashi Tharoor’s former aide detained for smuggling gold

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor distances himself from alleged gold smuggling incident involving his former staff member.

After Delhi Customs detained two people, one of whom claimed to be the personal assistant to Congress MP Shashi Tharoor in a case of alleged gold smuggling, the Congress leader distanced himself from any alleged wrongdoing on May 30 and said that the law must take its own course.

Mr. Tharoor, in a post on X, said that the detained person is a former member of his staff who has been rendering part-time service to him. He also extended his support to the authorities in their efforts to take any necessary action.

"While I am in Dharamshala for campaigning purposes, I was shocked to hear of an incident involving a former member of my staff who has been rendering part-time service to me in terms of airport facilitation assistance. He is a 72-year-old retiree undergoing frequent dialysis and was retained on a part-time basis on compassionate grounds," the Congress MP posted on X.

"I do not condone any alleged wrongdoing and fully support the authorities in their efforts to take any necessary action that may be required to investigate the matter. The law must take its own course," he added.

Earlier, Delhi Customs on Wednesday detained two people at the Delhi International Airport in a case of alleged gold smuggling.

According to sources in Customs, one of the detainees identified himself as Shiv Kumar Prasad and claimed that he is the personal assistant to Shashi Tharoor.

Shiv Kumar Prasad had come to the Delhi Airport to receive a person who had arrived from Dubai. Both people were arrested when the passenger was trying to hand over around 500 grams of gold to Mr. Prasad.