In one of the biggest seizures of gold in the city, officials of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) seized 5 kg of gold valued at ₹ 2 crore at the Air Cargo Complex on Monday. The DRI also arrested two persons in this connection.
According to Shreyas K.M., Deputy Director, DRI, Mangaluru, the seizure was made in the old airport in Bajpe due to the coordinated effort by the DRI officials from Mangaluru and Bengaluru. The modus operandi of smuggling gold was unique, he said in a release here on Tuesday.
The smuggled gold was concealed in five metal sprockets which were imported by Swaroop Mineral Pvt. Ltd. of Udupi in the name of “mining conveyor drive chain”. The gold was deftly concealed inside the heavy metal sprockets by way of a groove.
On physical examination, it gave only slight hint that it had been tampered with. The scanning of these wheels added to the suspicion and finally, the officers could retrieve the gold with the help of a local mechanic and a lathe operator at Bajpe. On examination by an authorised jeweller, the net weight of the round plates was 4,995 grams after discounting the weight of aluminium coating. The gold pieces were found to be of 24 Karat purity. A director of Swaroop Mineral Resources Manohar Kumar Poojari, who was involved in the case, was arrested in Bengaluru the same day. Lohith Shriyan, hailing from Ashoknagar in Mangaluru, who looked after the logistics of smuggling racket, was also arrested.
Further investigation in the case is in progress to unmask the other members of the syndicate and also the investors involved, the release said.
