KOLKATA: In separate operations in Assam and West Bengal, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has seized 10.5 kg gold valued at Rs 3 crore in the international market. It was smuggled into India from neighbouring countries, the agency said on Saturday.
Acting on a tip-off, officers of DRI Guwahati raided a rented residential premises in Shantipur hill side of the Assamese capital on Thursday and seized 49 gold bars of foreign origin cumulatively weighing 8.2 kg and valued at Rs 2.40 crore from three persons of West Bengal staying there, a DRI release said.
The three persons, who were about to leave the city carrying the gold to Kolkata, have been arrested under the provisions of the Customs Act 1962.
According to sources, the smuggled gold bars were brought illegally from Myanmar through the border in Manipur.
The accused are 26-year-old Ranjit Halder, 20-year-old Milan Mandal and 25-year-old Utpal Mandal, all hailing from South 24 Parganas district.
In a separate operation on Wednesday, DRI sleuths intercepted one person at Malda Railway station in West Bengal and seized six pieces of foreign origin gold bars weighing 2.3 kg, valued at Rs 69 lakh.
Sanjay Prasad, 40, hailing from Bhojpur district of Bihar, was arrested after interrogation under the Customs Act.
"Prasad was carrying the gold bars in specially-tailored waist belts made of cloth fastened around his waist," the release said.
It is believed that the gold bars were smuggled into the country from Bangladesh via the Hili-Malda route.
In the ongoing fiscal, the DRI has seized over 185 kgs of gold valued at close to Rs 56 crore in West Bengal and the north-eastern states, smuggled from Bangladesh, Myanmar and Bhutan.