: In a major crackdown, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) seized 20.64 kg of gold and Rs. 6.44 crore in cash from a shop in Old Delhi on October 14.
Two persons including the owner of the shop and the person who had come to deliver the consignment were arrested.
“There were 20 bars of gold worth Rs. 6.47 crore. Searches also resulted in the recovery of Rs 6.44 crore of Indian currency notes, the sale proceeds of smuggled gold,” said Principal Additional Director General (DRI) Debi Prasad Dash.
The shopkeeper, Rajesh Kumar Gupta, was running his shop from a premise as small as 6’ by 6’, and had no licence to deal in gold or sell jewellery, said Raj Kumar Digvijay, Joint Director, Delhi Zonal Unit.
Unanswered questions
The bars, said Mr. Digvijay, were manufactured in international mints. “The network is such that these bars enter the country via Dubai or Thailand. Mr. Gupta, however, claims that he is not aware of the route, and was in touch with one Pankaj Singh, who had come to deliver the gold bars,” said Mr. Digvijay.
The arrests have been made under the Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Act(COFEPOSA), 1974.
Gupta has purportedly told DRI sleuths that of the 27 kg gold that Pankaj delivered at his shop, he already sold 7 kg while the remaining money was from the sales he had earlier made.
On the action against the buyers, Mr. Digvijay said that since the business did not involve permanent receipts and was largely dependant on mutual trust, no record of customers was maintained.
The accused face imprisonment up to one year, said Mr. Digvijay.
He added that the smuggling of gold had picked up in the last two years.
