108 KG Of Smuggled Gold Seized Near Indo-China Border In Ladakh; 3 Arrested

ITBP has seized 108 gold bars, each weighing one kilogram, near Indo-China border in Ladakh and arrested three people, an official of the border guarding force said on Wednesday.

Leh (Ladakh):In the biggest gold haul by the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), the ITBP on Wednesday arrested three persons and recovered a whopping 108 kilograms of China-made gold from their possession in the Nyoma sector of Leh district.

A spokesperson for the ITBP said that the 21st Battalion of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) apprehended the smugglers Stanzin Dorgyal and Tsering Chamba besides a third person near Zursar in the general area of PP 54 during a long range patrolling on Tuesday afternoon in the Changthang sub-sector in eastern Ladakh, including Chizbule, Narbula, Zangle and Zakla. They were found in possession of 108 kilograms of gold, the ITBP spokesperson said.

Officials revealed that the gold, worth several hundred crores of rupees, was stored in a house in Koyul village, near the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China. The operation was a joint effort between the ITBP and local police, based on intelligence inputs.

The Army Brigade stationed locally under the 15 Sector received information about the smuggling activities and relayed it to the 21st Battalion of the ITBP, leading to the arrests. The seized gold was later transferred to the ITBP headquarters in Leh.

The seizure of such a huge quantity of gold smuggled from China has raised concerns about the cross-border gold smuggling.

Besides the huge quantity of gold, the ITBP also seized two mobile phones, a binocular, two knives and several Chinese food items like cakes and milk from the arrested smugglers as per officials.

It is learnt that the ITBP also received intelligence inputs about smuggling in Sriraple, one kilometre from the Line of Actual Control. Acting on the inputs, the patrolling party headed by deputy commandant Deepak Bhat noticed two people on mules and asked them to stop. When the suspected persons tried to escape, but were arrested after a chase by the ITBP which later made the gold recovery from their possession.