A smuggler has been apprehended with 2lb of gold worth £46,000 in his bottom after custom officers suspected him of walking in an unusual manner at an India airport.

The man was travelling on a GoAir flight from Dubai into Kerala’s Kannur airport and had hidden the stash of gold inside his own body to avoid paying the 18 per cent tax.

It is believed he had been walking awkwardly and was stopped and checked and the gold was discovered by officials from the Air Intelligence Unit (AIU), who also shared images of the precious metal which had been recovered.

Police said another man on the same flight was stopped from trafficking 3.2lb (1.47kg) of gold into India.

However, they did not reveal how he concealed the precious metal.

They were the latest in a number of seizures of gold being smuggled into the country from Arabic states.