Two held for smuggling red sanders worth Rs 1.4 crore

Two people were arrested on Saturday by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), Mumbai on Saturday for allegedly smuggling 14,030kg of red sanders worth Rs1.4 crore. Manish Pachouly reports.

Two people were arrested on Saturday by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), Mumbai on Saturday for allegedly smuggling 14,030kg of red sanders worth Rs1.4 crore.

HT Image

Sandeep Joshi, 35, an employee of the customs house agent (CHA) and Inayat Aliyani, 28, both residents of Amreli in Gujarat, were called for statements to the agency’s Mumbai office following which they were arrested. The DRI had, on Thursday, called the consignment from mid-sea after it was loaded in a ship heading to Dubai, at Pipavav port in Gujarat.

The consignment, declared on documents as PVC pipes, was offloaded at the Nhava Sheva port.

DRI officials said Joshi had obtained an Import-Export Code (IEC) from one BM Modi to be used to smuggle the red sanders. The code is compulsory for exporting or importing goods.

Officials said Aliyani arranged for the Customs clearance at Pipavav port. The two were produced before an additional chief metropolitan magistrate who remanded them to judicial custody till June 30. One of the main people behind sending the illegal consignment was Vikas Joshi, who is yet to be traced. Vikas paid Rs1.2 lakh to Sandeep for obtaining the IEC and sending the consignment.

The DRI is also searching for Modi and one Abid Khan who worked for Vikas.