DRI team seize over 12 kg gold at Patna junction, two smugglers held

A DRI team seized over 12 kg of gold bars at the Patna junction on Sunday. Two smugglers were held in this connection.

Patna: The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) officials on Sunday arrested two passengers and seized more than 12 kg of gold worth over Rs 7 crore from the Howrah New Delhi Duronto Express at the Patna Junction, official sources said. The accused have been identified as Premal Radia and Anil Kumar.

Based on a tip-off, the DRI team intercepted two passengers, who in the disguise of passengers were on the Express. After the investigation, the team found that the duo had concealed multiple gold bars weighing over 12 kg, in their clothes around their waist. Over the clothes, the accused wore belts to hide the gold bars, official sources said.

The official sources further said that the team of DRI, along with the Railway Protection Force (RPF), arrested the gold smugglers. The smugglers were natives of Bangladesh and had left for Delhi for gold. The police launched a man-hunt to nab the accused involved in the smuggling network, sources said.

Earlier, the DRI officials recovered gold weighing 2.2 kg at Jaipur railway station. Acting on a tip-off, the DRI team seized the gold bars worth Rs 1.4 crore. Two smugglers were also arrested in this connection. They were bringing gold from Kolkata to Jaipur.

The gold bars were found hidden in the sole of the shoes by the accused. According to sources, the DRI officials swung into action and seized the gold based on specific intelligence inputs. DRI officials received information stating that gold was being smuggled in a train from Kolkata to Jaipur. The DRI team caught the suspects and interrogated them, the smugglers carrying gold were unable to give a satisfactory reply.