MUMBAI: The airport customs wing has complained to the CBI brass about the interference from a CBI joint director , who allegedly asked officials here to handle with kid gloves a person coming in from London who has previously been charged for smuggling and has been a Cofeposa detainee.

Customs commissioner P M Salim has written to CBI director Ranjit Sinha about the interference from CBI joint director Keshav Kumar , who is also posted in Mumbai. Kumar heads the anti-corruption wing of the agency in Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur and Goa. He declined to comment on the customs complaint.

Salim's complaint, lodged last week, narrated a chain of events starting from customs officials being asked to "go slow" when they were in the process of initiating action against B M Sood . Sood, who has found himself in customs crosshairs in the past, "abused customs officers in a drunken condition and prevented them from carrying out their duty", officials said.

The officers were examining Sood's baggage when he started dropping names, including Kumar's and a few Gujarat politicians, a person in the know said. Sood was arrested by the Ahmedabad Directorate of Revenue Intelligence for duty evasion in 1993 and was also behind bars for seven months. This aspect, too, found mention in Salim's letter, an official said.

Salim told TOI over phone on Monday that it was a confidential matter and he would not like to comment on it. Sources said that the commissioner wrote the letter after Kumar said he would initiate action against some junior customs officials and after officials here found out details about Sood's past.

The drama unfolded around 5am on February 3 when Sood and his wife landed at the international airport. "The chief customs commissioner at Bhopal told us Sood should not get stuck with customs procedures and be allowed through the green channel. But Sood lost his cool when a superintendent wanted to check his baggage. He started abusing us, thus attracting attention from other officers. They then took him aside but he continued abusing them. He questioned how a junior officer could examine him and threatened to initiate action against them through Kumar," an official said. Officials said Sood's wife tried to calm him down but in vain. "She was very apologetic," the official said.

The officials then summoned the doctor on duty at the airport for a medical examination and the test confirmed he was drunk. "We got an independent witness while this was happening. The CCTV images will support our contention," an official said. Customs officials then decided to lodge a complaint at Sahar police station against Sood for using force to deter a public servant from doing his duty and creating nuisance in a drunken condition.

"Sood spoke to Keshav Kumar and passed on the phone to us. Keshav Kumar identified himself and asked us not to a lodge a police complaint. He also wondered why the customs was approaching the police for a minor issue. He also said he would order an inquiry into the incident," the source said. The junior officers who took him to the police then decided not to lodge a complaint because Kumar spoke to the official and his wife apologized.

On February 4, customs officials found out about Sood's past which showed that he was a smuggler. This prompted Salim to write to the CBI headquarters. "Salim did not want anyone to question him for not reporting the matter," an official said.

