Odisha: Over 32 kg gold ornaments seized on Konark express, 4 held

The Government Railway Police (GRP) on Wednesday seized over 32 kg gold jewellery worth over Rs 16 crore from Mumbai-Bhubaneswar Konark Express on Tuesday night at 11.30 pm.

As per a statement issued by the Odisha State CT and GST Enforcement Wing, four persons were detained in this connection for interrogation after they failed to produce valid GST documents. The detainees, identified as Hasmukhlal Jain, Surseh Sahadev Khare, Mahesh Bhomsar and Deepak Patel, all hailing from Mumbai, were travelling with four bags, each containing 8 kg of gold ornaments, the police said.

"They had planned to sell the gold ornaments to traders in and around Bhubaneswar. We zeroed in on them due to their suspicious activities," said Jayadev Biswajit Inspector In Charge, GRP Bhubaneswar.

"They evaded tax. So far, they have not disclosed who their prospective buyers are," he said.

Further investigation by Income Tax and GST sleuths is underway, he added.One GST officer Manmath Pradhan said that 32 kg gold worth above Rs 16 crores has been handed over to them by GRP police.

"We will collect 3 percent GST and 3 percent as penalty from these gold ornaments. We also varify the identities of those byres of Bhubaneswar. Later on Income tax department will also verify about the money invested to purchase illegal gold ornaments", he added.

( With inputs from ANI )

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