The Mumbai zonal unit of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) seized smuggled gold worth around Rs3.5 crore in a discreet operation in a long-distance train. Three people were arrested on Friday.
Based on specific information received by DRI, two passengers namely Suresh Rajpurohit and Natwar Chawda, who were travelling from Kolkata to Mumbai on Friday, were apprehended with 12 kg of smuggled gold. “A DRI team boarded the train at Igatpuri station (around 120km from Mumbai) and kept a discreet watch on the passengers. The said two passengers were apprehended while alighting from the train at Igatpuri railway station,” said a high-ranking officer.
The two “carriers” were grilled, after which they admitted carrying six gold bars of 1kg each in their bag packs. Some of the gold was concealed in a sleeveless jacket with six pockets made of canvas cloth. The gold was seized under the provisions of the Customs Act, 1962. “Their identities were further confirmed from the train ticket they were carrying with them,” said the officer.
Investigations revealed both of them were working for one Mithesh Jain owner of M/s.Hidant Creations at Zaveri Bazar, the hub of India’s gold and silver trade in south Mumbai. “Jain was summoned to DRI office and statements of all three were recorded under the provisions of the Customs Act, 1962. Both the carriers have admitted to having travelled around 40 times to Kolkata. Each time, they carried seven to eight gold bars of one kg each, which they had been handing over to Jain. When Jain was questioned, he admitted to the statements of his carriers and also admitted to having received around 700kg of foreign marked gold bars brought from Kolkata in the last one-and-a-half years.”
{{/usCountry}}Investigations revealed both of them were working for one Mithesh Jain owner of M/s.Hidant Creations at Zaveri Bazar, the hub of India’s gold and silver trade in south Mumbai. “Jain was summoned to DRI office and statements of all three were recorded under the provisions of the Customs Act, 1962. Both the carriers have admitted to having travelled around 40 times to Kolkata. Each time, they carried seven to eight gold bars of one kg each, which they had been handing over to Jain. When Jain was questioned, he admitted to the statements of his carriers and also admitted to having received around 700kg of foreign marked gold bars brought from Kolkata in the last one-and-a-half years.”
{{/usCountry}}The trio was placed under arrest under provisions of the Customs Act, 1962, and produced before the metropolitan magistrate on Saturday. They have been remanded to judicial custody until August 19.
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