Two arrested from Siliguri over gold smuggling

Siliguri: Two persons arrested in connection with gold smuggling were produced at Additional Chief Judidical Magistrate (ACJM) Court in Siliguri on Friday. They had been arrested by the sleuths of Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) and gold worth around Rs 2 crores was seized from them.

DRI sleuths arrested the duo from Pradhannagar area of Siliguri on Thursday. Around 2 kg 308 gm of gold with markings of a foreign country was recovered from the possession of Nagendoseyanam (29) and Kapliyasanga (20). They are the residents of Mizoram.

"Preliminary investigations have revealed that the gold was routed in from China through the Indo-Myanmar border in Mizoram. The smugglers had planned to get a bus to Kolkata from the Tenzing Norgay Bus Terminus in Siliguri. They had already fixed up a customer in Kolkata," stated Tridib Saha, lawyer representing the DRI.

The plans of the alleged smugglers were foiled. Working on a tip off, the DRI officers raided the lodge, where the two had put up in Siliguri. Investigations are on.

Siliguri is fast emerging as a gold smuggling corridor with its close proximity to international borders and is also the gateway to North East.

Gold from China is being smuggled into Siliguri through Bhutan and Indo-Myanmar border in North East India. From Siliguri, the smuggled gold makes its way to different parts of the country.