Kolkata, Oct 11 || The Border Security Force (BSF) has arrested a smuggler along the India-Bangladesh Border in West Bengal's Nadia district and seized 4.67 kg of gold that was being smuggled from Bangladesh to India, an official said on Friday.
The value of the gold is nearly Rs 3.51 crore, a senior BSF official said.
"There were specific intelligence inputs regarding a gold smuggling attempt and troops of the 32 Bn BSF, posted at the Horondipur Border Outpost, were alerted. They stopped a man moving on a motorcycle close to the India-Bangladesh border, and he was unable to give a convincing reply when asked what he was doing there. On searching the motorcycle, two gold bars and 18 gold biscuits were found hidden inside the air filter. The man was immediately arrested and taken to the border outpost," said Nilotpal Kumar Pandey, DIG and spokesperson, South Bengal Frontier, BSF.
"The valuation of the contraband is about Rs 3,50,55,855. During questioning, the smuggler said that he had received the gold from one Alamgir in Bangladesh's Bojtala village on Wednesday evening. He was to cross the border and hand over the consignment to an unknown person in the Swarnakhali forest area. He was to receive Rs 10,000 for this delivery. The smuggler had hidden the gold in his motorcycle to evade detection," Pandey said.
The smuggler, along with the seized gold, has been handed over to the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence in Kolkata for further legal procedures.
The DIG commended the active role played by the troops and the intelligence-gathering efforts of those in charge of that job.