KOCHI: Customs Superintendent Luke K George has been arrested by Preventive dept of Customs for smuggling foreign liquor worth Rs 6 crore from a duty free shop at Thiruvananthapuram airport using passenger documents.

CBI did the investigation. Luke is the first accused in the case in which the CBI has filed a chargesheet. The other accused are Sundaravasan, CEO of Plus Max Duty Free Shop, and employees Madan and Kiran David.

Luke K was the superintendent of the Thiruvananthapuram airport. George handed over the passport details of about 13,000 people to Plus Max and smuggled out foreign liquor worth Rs 6 crore.

The Customs Preventive Section had found that Luke had received millions in return. Alcohol was also smuggled using passport of children.

Although he was arrested by the CBI, he remained superintendent of the audit department as no legal action was taken against him. Rajendra Kumar, who has been appointed as the new commissioner of the Customs Preventive Division, has taken a tough stand, paving the way for his arrest. This is the first time a superintendent of customs has been arrested by the preventive section. Havildar, who is also known as Francis, was fired a few months ago for his alleged involvement in the smuggling.