DRI sleuths seize 2.7 kilo gold smuggled from Myanmar

Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) sleuths seized around 2.7 kilo of gold valued about Rs 1.13 crore smuggled from Myanmar at a railway station close to Kolkata and arrested two persons, an official said on Saturday.

Acting on a tip off, the DRI sleuths reached Daskhineswar Railway Station on Friday evening and mounted a surveillance on the down platform where the 13174 Down Kanchanjungha Express was scheduled to arrive.

At about 7-20 PM after the train arrived, the DRI officials saw two persons de-boarding whose appearance matched with the information received about a duo carrying a huge quantity gold.

The two persons were intercepted and on questioning, they disclosed their names as Lalrempuia and Hrangduhkima.

On personal search of Lalrempuia and Hrangduhkima, 16 gold biscuits of foreign origin, wrapped with black coloured adhesive tapes were recovered from specially made cavities inside the waist part of their trousers.

The collective weight of the recovered gold biscuits was ascertained as 2656.900 valued at Rs. 1,12,73,227.

The gold biscuits were seized by the DRI officers under the provisions of Customs Act, 1962.

In course of preliminary interrogation, both men confessed about their involvement in the smuggling of the gold biscuits, and said these were smuggled into India from Myanmar.

The two men also admitted that on three previous occasions they had carried gold biscuits of foreign origin smuggled into India from Myanmar in the same fashion.

In the current financial year, DRI has seized about 278 kg of smuggled gold in West Bengal and Sikkim. IANS