West Bengal: BSF seizes gold worth Rs 36 lakh smuggled from Bangladesh at international border, one held
Apr 18, 2023
North 24 Parganas (West Bengal) [India], April 18 : Foiling a smuggling bid, the Border Security Force (BSF) seized gold biscuits worth Rs 36 lakh smuggled from Bangladesh to India in North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal on Monday.
In a statement, BSF said that troops of the Border outpost Dobila, 153 Battalion, under the South Bengal Frontier, foiled the plans of a smuggler and apprehended him along with five gold biscuits near the international border. The smuggler was attempting to bring these biscuits from Bangladesh into India.
On Monday, jawans received information that there could be possible gold smuggling from the Bangladesh side.
Acting on specific information, BSF jawans launched a special operation in the area. Based on the information, they saw a motorcycle coming from Amudia village towards Dobila. When the jawans stopped the person, he tried to run away, but they promptly apprehended him and brought him to the border post. Upon searching the person at the post, BSF troops found five gold biscuits tied with tape to his thigh.
The apprehended smuggler was identified as Devashish Devnath, a resident of North 24 Parganas. The weight of the seized gold is 581.27 grams and its total value is Rs. 36.31 lakh.
During interrogation, Devnath revealed that he had received a call through WhatsApp from a Bangladeshi national named Gogan Mandal, a resident of Satkhira, Bangladesh, 15 days ago. The Bangladeshi national told him that he would give him five gold biscuits, which were to be handed over to a person named Nayan of Sayesta Nagar. He would receive Rs 2,000 for this work. In the greed of money, he agreed. Devnath further revealed that he was bringing the gold biscuits on a motorcycle but BSF jawans caught him on the way, the statement added.
The apprehended man and the seized gold biscuits were handed over to the Customs Department, Tentulia, for further legal action.
