Gold smuggling suspect who escaped DRI custody re-arrested

A 27-year-old accused in a gold smuggling syndicate fled from the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) office in Mumbai but was later arrested in Ahmedabad.

MUMBAI: A 27-year-old accused, who was arrested recently in a gold smuggling syndicate, fled from the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) Mumbai office on Thursday and was arrested by the DRI officials in Ahmedabad on Saturday.

Gold smuggling suspect who escaped DRI custody re-arrested

The Azad Maidan police station has registered a fresh case against the accused, identified as Mehul Ashok Kumar Jain, 27, a resident of Vasan, Ahmedabad, after he fled from the DRI Churchgate office early in the morning with documents related to his case.

The officials kept a watch on his residence and the persons he knew, and they received credible information that he was coming to Ahmedabad after fleeing Mumbai.

In June 2023, a gold smuggling syndicate was busted at Ahmedabad airport, in which Jain was one of the key persons and had been on the run for the past several months. At the airport, a passenger coming from Dubai was arrested when he attempted to smuggle about 3 kgs of gold, said the official.

On Wednesday, Jain was detained at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) while he was trying to flee to Dubai. Immigration authorities detained him according to the lookout circular issued by the DRI officials. He was then kept at the DRI’s office overnight, from where he fled, as he was to be produced before the court on Thursday for taking him to Ahmedabad on transit remand.