DRI seizes smuggled gold worth Rs 2.5 crore; 2 arrested

The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence has seized gold worth over Rs 2.5 crore which was smuggled into India from Bangladesh and arrested two persons in this connection, an official statement said on Wednesday.

An information was received that a huge quantity of foreign-origin gold, smuggled into India from Bangladesh through the borders in the district of Coochbehar, West Bengal would be carried to Dalkhola, Uttar Dinajpur district, by two persons on Tuesday, it said.

Accordingly, the DRI officers intercepted two persons near Bidhannagar on NH-27.

"Both the persons stated that they were coming from Dinhata and confessed that they were carrying smuggled gold which were secreted in their waist tied securely with a cloth belt," the statement issued by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) said.

On search of the two apprehended persons, a total of 50 pieces of gold biscuits, cumulatively weighing 5.83 kg with a market value of about Rs 2.53 crore, were recovered, it said, adding the gold was of foreign-origin.

The apprehended duo admitted that the recovered gold had been smuggled into India from Bangladesh through the porous Indo-Bangladesh border along the district of Coochbehar, the statement said, adding the two were arrested.

In the current financial year, about 275 kg of gold have been seized by the DRI in West Bengal and Sikkim region.