Smuggled Swiss gold worth Rs 1.68 crore seized from Gaya junction, 2 held

PATNA: The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) seized 4 kilograms of smuggled Swiss gold worth Rs 1.68 crore in domestic market and arrested two smugglers from Doon express soon after it reached Gaya railway junction on Friday.
After the recovery, a raid was also conducted at Kesari Bazaar locality in Jaunpur district of Uttar Pradesh on Saturday to nab kingpin who the main smuggler but he had managed to escape, according to sources.
The arrested smugglers were identified as Rajesh Kumar Yadav and Umanath Yadav, both in their early 40s. Sources said that they were natives of Jaunpur district in Uttar Pradesh. They had boarded the train at Howrah junction in West Bengal.
Both were produces before economic offence court in Patna on late Friday night after which they were forwarded to jail.
Sources said that Rajesh and Umanath were wearing special belts inside their waist below trouser to conceal the gold bars but they had already come under surveillance for continuous involvement in smuggling.
Sources also said that Rajesh and Umanath had carried Rs 50 lakh with themselves which was handed over to the Bangaladeshi agent on Indo-Bangladesh border after taking the consignment.
Sources said that Rajesh and Umanath were just smugglers who used to get Rs 25,000 for each kilogram of gold they smuggled from Bangladesh border to Jaunpur.
“Around Rs 70 lakh more was still to be paid for entire consignment. Hawala route was to be used for the payment,” they said.
“After duo’s interrogation, it surfaced that a Bangladeshi national had handed over the entire consignment to them at Petrapole which is located on Indo-Bangladesh border. They had later boarded train and were enroute Jaunpur when DRI team arrested them at Gaya junction,” sources said.
They said that Rajesh was carrying three bars of one kilogram each of which one was intact while another was cut into two pieces while rest two bars of one kilogram each was carried by Umanath.
“They were working for one Manoj Kumar who owns a jewellery shop at Kesari Bazaar at Jaunpur. Raids were conducted at his shop and other locations at Jaunpur on Saturday but he had escaped till then,” sources