Coimbatore, Nov 27 (PTI) Gold weighing 12.34 kg andvalued at Rs 3.76 crore has been seized by Central Excise andCustoms personnel so far this financial year, a top officialin the GST Commissionerate said today.
Despite the novel 'modus operandi' adopted by smugglersand carriers to bring gold into the country, the departmentwas able to trace it through modern scanners and otherequipment, GST Commissioner (Audit) N J Kumaresh toldreporters here.
He also referred to yesterday's seizure of 816 grams ofgold valued at Rs 25 lakh at the aiport here, in the shape ofmatch sticks hidden in handles of five kitchen knives.
With this, the total seizure from April 2017 tillyesterday amounted to Rs 3.76 crore, he said.
However, the seizure during 2015-16 and 2016-17 was low,with gold weighing 1.89 kg and 1.87 kg respectively, valued atRs 50 lakh and Rs 56 lakh respectively, he said.
Kumaresh attributed the lower seizure to change ofdestinations or alert on intensified checking in the cityairport, as the gold being smuggled through Coimbatore wasmainly meant to Kerala customers either in Kozhikode orKannur.
However, the figure was higher in 2014-15 amounting to Rs3.37 crore weighing 12.43 kg, Kumaresh said. PTI NVMSS.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.