A 24-year-old youth from Maharashtra was arrested with 2.83 kilograms of gold from a bus in a joint inspection conducted by the Excise and Sales Tax departments at the Amaravila check-post on Friday. The accused has been identified as Yash Mehta from Thane.
A senior Sales Tax official, the gold was being smuggled in illegally to the State to supply to a jewellery in Thiruvananthapuram. The gold has been valued at ₹83.49 lakh. A fine of 25% of the value of the gold, including 10% security deposit, 10% penalty and 5% tax, has been imposed.
The gold was recovered during a routine check inside a Tamil Nadu Transport Corporation bus. The inspection team seized the bag thinking it to be ganja. The youth has not yet revealed which jewellery he was taking the gold to.
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“In recent months, we arrested from the vicinity of jewellery shops in the city quite a few people carrying gold illegally from Maharashtra. To transport legally, the sender has to declare online, with their and the buyer’s pin numbers. This will be reflected in the stock soon. To transport legally, they need to pay only 5% tax. But many take the illegal route,” said the official.