RAIPUR: The Chhattisgarh police on Wednesday night detained a person from Salem, Tamil Nadu who was carrying over 368 kg silver valued at more than Rs 1 crore at the Raipur railway station.
But he was set free when bullion traders turned up at the Ganj police station claiming that the silver was theirs. Having received a tipoff about the consignment, a posse from the Ganj police station searched G Madheshvaram (45) at the railway station and found 368 kg of silver packed in six bags.
No sooner was G Madheshvaram (45) taken to the Ganj police thana, some bullion traders turned up and claimed that the silver brought by the businessman belonged to them and protested his detention "without any evidence". Madheshwaran was let off after being booked under Section 102 of the Criminal Procedure Code.
The bullion traders assured the police that documents and bills would be produced to validate their claims. However, Income Tax and sales tax officials rushed to the Ganj police station upon learning of the development and were annoyed that Madheshwaram had been allowed to go. They wanted him taken back into custody to answer their questions. "The departments of income-tax and sales tax will now carry out an investigation into the case. Madheshwaram is being further interrogated," police said.
A huge quantity of silver from the south flows through sarafa dealers into markets in Chhattisgarh. According to officials, there were intelligence inputs that smugglers resort to the rail route to transport silver illegally to Raipur from the south.