The DRI has arrested four people for allegedly trying to smuggle into the country gold valuing over Rs four crore, an official statement issued today said.
Following to a tipoff, officers of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) intercepted four persons hailing from the northeast as they de-boarded a Howrah-bound train at Bandel railway station, about 60 kms from here, it said.
The persons were found to be carriers of gold smuggled from Myanmar through the northeastern border areas, the statement said.
"Sleuths of DRI mounted strict surveillance at Bandel railway station in the early hours and nabbed four persons with the contraband gold biscuits (84 pieces) totalling 14 kgs and valued at Rs 4.24 crore," it said.
The gold biscuits were concealed in specially-stitched cavities of their trousers in the form of 'waist belts', the statement said.
Those arrested are Sikander, Tapsir, Mustaq Ali and Belan, all aged between 24 and 32 years and residents of Manipur, it said.
Investigations reveal that these persons had started their journey from Imphal in an SUV and reached Guwahati.
From Guwahati, they boarded the Howrah-bound Kamrup Express but they de-boarded the train at Bandel, where they were intercepted by the DRI, the statement said.
This was one of the biggest seizures of foreign-origin smuggled gold in recent times by DRI.
In the current financial year, DRI Kolkata has so far seized over 166 kg of gold valued at close to Rs 49 crore in the market, smuggled from Bangladesh, Burma and even Bhutan.
The seizure was made in the region spread over West Bengal and the northeastern states, it said.
DRI is closely monitoring the trends of smuggling of gold across the porous border regions and making sustained efforts to combat the menace by enhanced vigil and surveillance, the statement said.
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