Siliguri cops recover gold worth Rs 93L, three held

Darjeeling: An international smuggling ring was busted in Siliguri and three persons were arrested with 3 kg of gold.

Based on a tip-off, sleuths of Directorate of Revenue Intelligence nabbed the three from in front of the Tenzing Norgay Bus Terminus on Hill Cart Road, Siliguri.

They were taken to the DRI office and frisked. Three gold bars were recovered from specially-made belts that each of them were wearing. It was found that they had smuggled the gold from Bhutan. The arrested persons include Sachin Patil (24,) Krishna Shanker Kirdat (25) and Uttam Dilip Gujale (31). All three of them hail from Maharashtra. The three were produced at the ACJM court in Siliguri on Wednesday.

"The gold is worth Rs 93 lakh. A goldsmith certified that they were 24 carat and were of Swiss origin. They were supposed to take the gold to Maharashtra via Kolkata, from where it would have been distributed" said Ratan Banik, DRI. The three have disclosed an existing smuggling chain among local buyers. They were granted interim conditional bail as transporting illegal gold worth less than Rs 1 crore is a bailable offence.