3 days Ago
Surat: The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) produced two persons in a local court on Friday who were caught with gold worth Rs 4.72 crore at Surat International Airport. The accused were nabbed on Wednesday night after they landed from a Sharjah flight.
DRI officials recovered around 6 kg of gold in bar and paste form. The accused, Vipul Sheladiya and Abhay Kilaji, were sent to judicial custody by the court. The gold was recovered from their underwear and shoes.
They were stopped for checking based on specific leads received by the DRI team. DRI is now investigating if the accused are linked to any syndicate involved in gold smuggling. Their previous travel history is being investigated.
After a significant decrease in the customs duty on gold from 15% to 6% earlier this year, it was expected that there would be a decrease in the illegal activities surrounding gold smuggling. However major cases of illegally imported gold seizures were being reported more frequently. On Oct 20, DRI nabbed three persons from Surat railway station with 8kg of gold worth Rs 7 crore.
In the seizure, two persons who arrived by air from Dubai at Ahmedabad reached Surat by train. DRI kept watch on them until a receiver came to collect the gold. The accused were identified as Deepak Behra of Mumbai and Naresh Singh of Punjab, while the person who came to collect the gold was Gautam Oswal, a resident of the Adajan area in the city.
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