Kolkata: Directorate of Revenue Intelligence sleuths have seized more than 4.5 kg of gold valued at about Rs 1.85 crores and arrested two persons in connection with smuggling of the precious metal from Bangladesh, the agency said Sunday.
Acting on intelligence, DRI officers intercepted a mini truck, bearing West Bengal registration plate at Birati – about 18 kms from Kolkata – in 24 North Parganas district on Thursday.
The vehicle was coming from Bongaon, an Indian town on the border with Bangladesh. The driver and sole occupant of the vehicle Sufal Halder was apprehended and following a search, two cloth pouches containing 40 gold biscuits and bearing foreign markings were found hidden inside the engine compartment.
The total weight of the gold biscuits was 4.66 kgs, valued at Rs 1,84,75,776. Preliminary interrogation of Halder led the DRI team to the residence of Manik Shil, at Birati, in the early hours of Friday.
“Shil was to have received the gold biscuits carried by Halder. Shil was apprehended from his residence and specially made pouches for concealing the gold were also recovered,” said a DRI official.
“Both the persons admitted to have been knowingly involved in the job of transporting and receiving foreign origin smuggled gold on several occasions in the past,” the official said.
The recovered gold was seized and Both Halder and Shil were arrested under the provisions of the Customs Act and produced before jurisdictional Judicial Magistrate who sent them to judicial custody.
In the current financial year so far, more than 95 kg of gold have been seized by DRI in the eastern region.
