The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI)’s regional unit in Siliguri
seized more than 5kg of gold worth approximately ₹6 crore and arrested four persons at Kishanganj in Bihar on Tuesday.
The gold, sources said, was supposed to be smuggled into Delhi and Calcutta.
The DRI first apprehended Pankaj Kumar and Suraj Kumar in the Dangibusty area in Kishanganj while they were on their way to board a Delhi-bound train.
When DRI officials frisked the duo based on a tip-off, 27 rectangular gold bars, which altogether weighed around 2.473 kilograms, were found concealed inside specially modified shoes.
Sources in the DRI said the duo had failed during interrogation to produce any documents to validate the purchase and show the origin of the gold, and admitted that they were smuggling it to Delhi.
“The duo also disclosed the involvement of two others, Ashish Kumar and Souvik Pan, both residents of Midnapore, who were staying in a rented apartment near a college in Kishanganj.
The DRI team picked the duo up from the apartment and recovered another 21 gold bars weighing around 3.145 kilos,” said a source.
Officials of the intelligence wing suspect that the gold was brought to India through unauthorised routes along the India-Bangladesh border.
Ratan Banik, the lawyer representing the DRI, said the seized gold was verified as pure and bore international hallmarks.
The four arrested persons were booked under the Customs Act, 1962.
The additional chief judicial magistrate’s court in Siliguri on Wednesday remanded the four in judicial custody till October 8.
Theft arrest
Police arrested Purnima Singh, a domestic help in her late 30s, on Wednesday for allegedly stealing valuables, including ₹3 lakh in cash and gold ornaments, from the house of an Andul-based businessman on Thursday.
Singh was arrested with three of her aides, and the stolen ornaments were recovered.