DRI seizes 8.7 kg of smuggled gold bars, arrests hotelier

January 02, 2017 12:27 am | Updated 12:27 am IST - Ramanathapuram:

After stepping up surveillance at vulnerable coastal areas in the southern districts of the State to detect smuggling of gold through the sea, the Chennai Zonal Unit of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) seized 8.7 kg of gold bars after arresting a hotelier near the railway gate at Uchipuli here.

Based on specific inputs from the DRI, Chennai zonal unit, its officials, including two Superintendents from Thoothukudi and one from Madurai, intercepted a car near the railway gate on Saturday evening and seized 87 gold bars with foreign markings. The bars, each weighing 100 grams, were found concealed in a pouch under the driver’s seat.

The car driver, identified as Mujibur Rehman (31), a local hotelier, reportedly confessed that he was transporting the gold bars which were smuggled from Sri Lanka and received in a coastal village through a fishing boat, a DRI release said.

The 24 carat gold bars, with 99.9 per cent purity, were estimated at Rs. 2.44 crore in the present market rate. Rehman, who was arrested under Section 135 of the Customs Act, was produced before the Jurisdictional Magistrate Court in Madurai and remanded in judicial custody on Sunday.

After seizing the contraband, the DRI officials checked the purity of gold bars with the help of appraisers at the office of Customs Commissionerate here on Saturday night before leaving for Thoothukudi in the small hours of Sunday.

The officials have launched an investigation to crack the smuggling network. Preliminary investigation revealed that the gold bars were bound for Chennai and the officials were enquiring about the sender and the receiver in Chennai.

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