New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday said a "large-scale" foreign-origin gold smuggling syndicate is operating in Chhattisgarh and some adjoining states and it has initiated a money laundering case to probe these illegal activities. The federal probe agency conducted searches for three days this month, starting on August 5, and covered 21 premises in the central Indian state and one location in Jharkhand.
It said in a statement that a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) was booked by it to probe the "smuggling of foreign-origin good and other precious metals through illicit channels from Bangladesh to Raipur (Chhattisgarh capital city) via Kolkata." The agency took cognisance of a chargesheet filed by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) after the latter agency investigated these allegations.
"A professional carrier of gold was caught by DRI while smuggling gold and precious stones through illicit channels. "The DRI recovered gold from his possession which was of foreign origin and was brought into India from Bangladesh through smuggling channel and was transported from Kolkata to Raipur for its consumption at Raipur by Vijay Kumar Baid alias Vicky and others," the ED said. Baid is stated to be a jeweller based in Chhattisgarh.
The ED said a "number of such cases have been booked by law enforcement agencies against the offenders involved in the recent times." The agency said it found that a "large-scale smuggling syndicate is operating in Chhattisgarh and nearby states." "The modus operandi of this syndicate is that foreign-origin gold is being smuggled into the country after it is received in Myanmar from where it comes to Bangladesh and further enters the state of West Bengal and this gold reaches other states like Chhattisgarh through road and train transport," it said. The agency said, post the raids, it seized "unaccounted or unexplained" gold bullion weighing about 3.8 kg, around 12 kg of gold ornaments, 671.77 kg of silver and Rs 1.41 crore cash. (PTI)
