66 kg gold worth ₹21cr seized, four smugglers held

LUCKNOW : The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence has seized 66 kg gold worth ₹21 crore from two four-wheelers intercepted in Lucknow and Kolkata on December 6 and 7 respectively and arrested four people.

LUCKNOW:The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has seized 66 kg gold worth ₹21 crore from two four-wheelers intercepted in Lucknow and Kolkata on December 6 and 7 respectively and arrested four people.

Those arrested from Lucknow were identified as Manoj Sonia, a native of Siliguri and Sameer Gartaula, a resident of Nepal. The DRI has not disclosed the names of the other two people arrested from Kolkata.

The gang was smuggling gold from Bhutan to India through the porous Indo-Bhutan border in West Bengal. The smuggled gold was being sent to Lucknow, Agra and other parts of the country.

In the first operation carried out in the state capital on December 6, the DRI officials got information about large quantity of gold being smuggled in a fourwheeler.

The officials intercepted the car and held its two occupants. During the search, they recovered 33 gold bars weighing one kg each valued at around ₹10.56 crore. The gold was concealed in a special cavity next to the driver’s seat.

In the second operation carried out in Kolkata on December 7, the intelligence officials intercepted a four-wheeler in the wee hours and arrested two people. They recovered 33 kg gold worth ₹10.46 crore. The gold was concealed in a secret box fixed behind the dash board and in a cavity near gear box of the vehicle.

In all, 66 kg gold worth ₹21.02 crore was recovered and two cars were seized in the two raids, said the officials. Besides, in another operation in Siliguri, the DRI officials recovered ₹3.5 lakh in cash from a four-wheeler and seized the vehicle.