The Indian Coast Guard and Directorate of Revenue Intelligence carried out a joint operation on Thursday which led to the seizure of 32.6 kg of gold worth around ₹20.2 crore from two fishing boats in the Gulf of Mannar area.
News agency ANI reported that the consignment was being smuggled into India from Sri Lanka.
Inspector general Manish Pathak, who is the deputy director general (Operations) of the Indian Coast Guard, said, “Based on specific input from DRI, Indian Coast Guard launched an anti-smuggling operation in the Gulf of Mannar near Indo-Srilankan maritime boundary line for the last three days. Joint efforts of Indian Coast Guard, DRI, and Customs led to the seizure of illegal consignments of about 33 kgs of gold valued at ₹20 crores.”
Further explaining the details of the operations, Pathak said, “There was a close surveillance kept at Sea, on suspicious fishing boats. On being chased and challenged, the boats made evasive moves and one boat was apprehended, while the other one dumped the consignment at sea. Relentless diving operations have been undertaken till this morning to recover the gold from the sea. The suspects have been taken into custody.”
{{/usCountry}}Further explaining the details of the operations, Pathak said, “There was a close surveillance kept at Sea, on suspicious fishing boats. On being chased and challenged, the boats made evasive moves and one boat was apprehended, while the other one dumped the consignment at sea. Relentless diving operations have been undertaken till this morning to recover the gold from the sea. The suspects have been taken into custody.”
{{/usCountry}}He added, “The present leadership is intolerant towards any illegal activities. There will be a synergised effort to curb all kinds of anti-national from the Indian coast.”
A video posted by ANI showed the diving operations where Indian Coast Guard personnel could be seen going underwater with a knife to find the consignment. Upon finding the consignment, they are seen taking it to the boat through ropes.