Gold worth over 1.5 cr seized in Bengal

Kolkata, Nov 20 (IANS) About 4.98 kg of smuggled gold biscuits worth over Rs 1.57 crore were recovered in West Bengal' Nadia district and one person was arrested, an official said on Tuesday.Acting on specific intelligence, the officers of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), Kolkata Zonal Unit recovered 4.98 kg of gold biscuits (30 pieces) valued at Rs 1.57 crore, the official said, adding that the seized gold was smuggled through the Indo-Myanmar border at Manipur."30 pieces of gold biscuits were recovered from the possession of Md. Sher Khan, a resident of Manipur state. He was arrested," the official said.The interception took place at Ranaghat Railway level crossing on National Highway 34 while the smuggled gold biscuits were en-route from Siliguri to Kolkata.According to the DRI, the smuggled gold biscuits were concealed in a backpack and wrapped in a red and white coloured towel and further covered with brown adhesive tapes.With this seizure, in the current financial year, in the region spread over West Bengal and the north-eastern states, the DRI has seized over 350 kg of gold and gold jewellery valued at close to 108.80 crore in the market, smuggled from Bangladesh, Myanmar, Bhutan and even China.
--IANS bdc/ahm/bg