Kolkata, Feb 21 (IANS) For the second day in succession, the Border Security Force (BSF) foiled a gold smuggling attempt along the India-Bangladesh Border (IBB) by arresting a man with 1,135.34 grams of gold, an official said on Friday.
The BSF said that the man was arrested on Thursday from the Petrapole Integrated Check Post (ICP), in the North 24-Parganas district of West Bengal, when he was entering India from Bangladesh.
On Wednesday, BSF troops posted at the Bithari BOP in the same district nabbed a man with 12 gold biscuits.
“We consider this a major success. At around 7.30 a.m. on Thursday, troops of the 145 Bn BSF were carrying out routine checks on people arriving from Bangladesh at the Petrapole ICP when the smuggler was arrested. Though nothing incriminating was found in his luggage or clothing, the metal detector indicated some substance hidden within his body. The man feigned ignorance,” said N.K. Pandey, DIG and spokesperson, South Bengal Frontier, BSF.
“Finally, after several rounds of questioning, he confessed that he had some gold hidden inside his body. Senior BSF officials reached the spot and three cylindrical gold pieces were recovered from his anal cavity. The gold has an estimated value of Rs 99 lakh,” he added.
According to the DIG, the man claimed that he is a resident of Chennai and had gone to Bangladesh for some work recently.
He met some smugglers there who asked him to carry the gold across the border and hand it over to a contact in Kolkata. He was to be paid Rs 10,000 for his efforts, the man told the BSF.
“The arrested smuggler, along with the seized gold pieces, has been handed over to the concerned authorities for further legal action. Meanwhile, an in-depth investigation is underway to uncover more details related to this smuggling operation,” Pandey said.
He said that this is the fourth major seizure of gold along the IBB in the South Bengal Frontier since February 14.
The total value of gold seized over the week is over Rs 6 crore.
–IANS
jayanta/pgh
