Kolkata, March 6 The Border Security Force (BSF) arrested a person at the Integrated Check Post (ICP) at Petrapole, in the North 24-Parganas district of West Bengal, for attempting to smuggle gold into India across the Indo-Bangladesh Border (IBB).
The accused confessed that he had procured the gold in Dubai and was smuggling it into India via Bangladesh. On Tuesday, a woman, from Comilla in Bangladesh, was arrested at Petrapole for attempting to smuggle six bangles, made of nearly 24 carat gold, into India. The purity of the gold in the bangles was 99.75 per cent and this caught the attention of the alert BSF personnel.
"The man arrested on Wednesday is an Indian. Troops of the 145 Bn BSF were carrying out routine checks on people entering the country with valid documents through Petrapole, when a metal detector started to beep. This was when it was being moved across the body of an Indian national, returning from Dubai via Bangladesh," said N K Pandey, DIG and spokesperson, South Bengal Frontier, BSF.
"The jawans could not trace any metallic object in his possession, yet the metal detector kept on beeping. During questioning, the man broke down and confessed that he had hidden some gold in his anal cavity. Finally, a polythene cylinder, containing 564.460 grams of gold dust was extracted. The value of the gold is around Rs 49,13,624," he added.
The man allegedly told BSF officials that he is a resident of Mumbai and worked as a fashion designer in Dubai. Hoping to earn a quick buck, he decided to smuggle back some gold from Dubai. Air travel was out of the question due to stringent checks at the airports. Hence, the plan to travel to Bangladesh and then cross over to India by road.
The man had hoped to earn about Rs 2.5 lakh by selling the gold in India. The value of 564.460 grams of 24 carat gold in Dubai is around Rs 46.77 lakh. However, his plan was thwarted due to the alertness of the BSF personnel. He has been handed over to concerned authorities for necessary action, Pandey said.
This is the third time that the BSF troops of the South Bengal Frontier have come across attempts by smugglers to hide gold inside body cavities, in less than a month, the DIG said.
Smugglers arrested on February 20 and 21 had 2.54 kg gold hidden inside them. The value of the seized gold in these two operations was Rs 2.23 crore.
--IANS
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