A Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) official was critically injured after he was shot by gold smugglers in Jodhpur on Friday morning, officials said.
The federal agency recovered 5.5 kg gold worth Rs 2.75 crore from the car that the smugglers were travelling in and later 200 kg of unaccounted silver from the premises of a Jodhpur-based financier.
In a statement issued on Friday evening, DRI said that “acting on specific intelligence, the officers of DRI Jodhpur intercepted a vehicle at Kharia Meethapur on the Jaipur-Jodhpur highway (near Balari), suspected to be carrying smuggled gold of foreign origin, in the early hours of September 18”.
On being apprehended by the DRI team, one of the three occupants of the intercepted Innova SUV, opened fire without any provocation in which one of the team members was critically injured and had to be rushed to the hospital, the agency said.
“The rummaging of the intercepted vehicle led to the recovery of about 5.5 kgs of smuggled foreign-origin gold having market value of approximately Rs 2.75 crore. The smuggled gold was found concealed in a specially made cavity under the passengers’ seats and was being transported from Jaipur to Jodhpur,” the DRI said.
The agency added that “In the follow up search at the residence of the Jodhpur-based key financer of the smuggled gold, around 200 kg of unaccounted for silver bars were also recovered”.
{{/usCountry}}The agency added that “In the follow up search at the residence of the Jodhpur-based key financer of the smuggled gold, around 200 kg of unaccounted for silver bars were also recovered”.
{{/usCountry}}The agency refused to share further details.