Afghanistan’s Consul General caught smuggling gold at Mumbai airport, resigns

Mumbai: A high-ranking Afghanistan official in India resigned from her post on Sunday. The Consul General of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan in Mumbai, Zakia Wardak announced her resignation on social media platform ‘X’ after she was caught with undeclared gold at the Mumbai Airport. Since she enjoys diplomatic immunity, she was not arrested, said officials.

Diplomat was travelling to India from Dubai

The woman official from Afghanistan was reportedly trying to smuggle in 25 kg of gold, worth Rs 18 crore into India. Wardak is the seniormost diplomat of Afghanistan in India. She attributed her resignation to “personal attacks and defamation” and also alleged that a “public narrative was being set which was unfairly targeting the only female representative within the system.”

The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence had intercepted Wardak at the Mumbai Airport with undeclared gold in the last week of April. The gold was immediately seized and a case was registered against her. But she was not arrested due to diplomatic immunity.

The diplomat is an appointee of the previous Asgraf Ghani government of Afghanistan. The government was replaced by Taliban in 2021 but India still works with the older diplomats and officials appointed by the Ghani government.

In her resignation statement the diplomat alleged that in the past 1 year she has suffered numerous personal attacks and even her close family and extended relatives and friends were not spared of the attacks. She said that such attacks had impacted her ability to effectively carry out her duties and demonstrate challenges face by women in Afghan society.

She said that though she was prepared for attacks on her, when her family was dragged into the whole controversy, it really affected her badly. She said that the attacks were persistent and coordinated in nature and after a certain point crossed the threshold of tolerance.

Officials said that 58-year-old Wardak flew into Mumbai from Dubai, accompanied by her son. Both of them used the green channel indicating that she was not carrying any goods which needed to be declared to customs. No contraband was found on her son but, Wardak had gold on her, and she could not produce legal documents for the foreign-origin gold. Officials found 25 kg gold in the woman’s luggage and seized it. It is currently kept in a government strong room in Ballard Pier.