A 35-year-old Indian woman has been detained in Bangladesh for allegedly possessing five gold bars, an official said.
Putul Rani, from South 24 Parganas district of West Bengal, was arrested by the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) near the border town of Benapole, bdnews24.Com reported today.
The border guards, after receiving a tip-off, caught her at Ghiba border area, said Lt Col Motiur Rahman, commander of Jessore 26 BGB Battalion.
The five gold bars found in her possession will be handed over to customs, he said.
She is now in the custody of Benapole Port Police Station.
Gold smuggling via Bangladesh has reached an alarming level mainly due a rise in import duty on gold in India.
Smuggling syndicates are using Bangladesh as a transit point to smuggle the yellow metal to India, which has hiked import duty on it thrice to 10 percent since January last year, according to a report in The Daily Star earlier this month.
According to the report, around 520 kgs of gold was seized last year, whereas the amount was only 25 kg in 2012.
