West Bengal: Gold worth Rs 64 lakh near India-Bangladesh border, 1 held
Nov 15, 2023
North 24 Parganas (West Bengal) [India], November 15 : The Border Security Force (BSF), under the south Bengal frontier, thwarted a unique attempt of gold smuggling and apprehended a 59-year-old man with two packets containing gold, weighing 1,059.400 grams while being smuggled from Bangladesh to India, officials said on Wednesday.
The estimated value of the seized gold is Rs 64,04,073, the BSF said in a statement.
The apprehended passenger was identified as Faizal Ali Khan Mohammed Faleel (59).
"During routine frisking of incoming passengers at Integrated Check Post (ICP) Petrapole, alert BSF troops frisking a passenger and a metal detector indicated the presence of some metallic substance in the lower part of the body of the passenger. Immediately, troops took the passenger to the washroom for extensive frisking. During frisking, 2 pieces of gold paste in cylindrical shape were recovered from his possession, which was concealed in his rectum. Troops apprehended the passenger and seized the gold," the BSF said.
During interrogation, he revealed that he works as a garment exporter by profession from Mumbai to various parts of Malaysia and Bangladesh.
Further, he revealed that, on November 13, when he was returning from Malaysia to India via Dhaka, he met with a Sri Lankan national named Siddique at Benapole bus stand, who offered Rs 10,000 for crossing over the gold consignment to India and directed him to take the consignment to Chennai. He concealed the gold consignment in the rectum at the public toilet of Benapole landport. when he reached the frisking point of ICP Petrapole from Bangladesh, he was apprehended by BSF along with the concealed gold consignment.
The apprehended person and seized items have been handed over to the Customs Department, Petrapole, the BSF said.
AK Arya, DIG, Public Relations Officer, South Bengal Frontier, BSF expressed happiness over this achievement of the soldiers and said that notorious smugglers trap poor and innocent people by luring them with small amounts of money.
"The gang of notorious smugglers is not directly involved in crimes like smuggling, hence they target poor people," he said.
He also appealed to the people living on the border that if any information related to gold smuggling comes to their notice, they can inform about it on BSF's Seema Sathi helpline number 14419.
Apart from this, South Bengal Frontier also issued another number 9903472227 on which WhatsApp messages or voice messages related to gold smuggling can also be sent. An appropriate reward amount will be given to the person giving concrete information and his identity will be kept confidential, they said.
