Kolkata: The Border Security Force (BSF) arrested a man and recovered 25 gold biscuits from his possession close to the Indo-Bangladesh Border (IBB) in West Bengal’s North 24-Parganas district.
N K Pandey, DIG and spokesperson, South Bengal Frontier, BSF said that the gold was valued at nearly Rs 3 crore, adding that this is the biggest single haul for the BSF’s South Bengal Frontier this year.
“Troops of the 143 Bn BSF, posted at the Bithari Border Outpost, acted on credible intelligence inputs regarding an attempt to smuggle gold from Bangladesh to India,” he said.
DIG Pandey said that a special ambush was laid and around 4.45 pm, a man was spotted on a motorcycle near the IBB. “He was stopped and searched when he got close to the Bithari BOP.
A search of the motorcycle led to the seizure. The gold biscuits were cleverly hidden inside a special cavity under the fuel tank. The man was immediately taken into custody,” he said.
He said that the seized gold weighed 3.420 kg and was valued at Rs 2,95,90,182, adding that during interrogation, the man claimed that he is a resident of the Padam Bila village in North 24-Parganas. “He also claimed that he had come in touch with a Bangladeshi smuggler over the last two months.
This smuggler allegedly handed over the gold biscuits to him with instructions to drop them at a designated spot on the roadside near Bithari market. He was to receive Rs 1,500 for this task.
The man, along with the gold, has been handed over to the concerned agency for necessary legal action,” the DIG added. He said that the BSF is implementing strict measures to curb smuggling and illegal infiltration, adding that the BSF is consistently staying one step ahead despite new tactics being adopted by smugglers and touts.