The Border Security Force (BSF) along with the South Bengal frontier have arrested two Bangladeshi smugglers and seized five gold bangles and three gold chains worth over Rs 12 lakh at Integrated Check Post (ICP) Petrapole in North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal, the officials said on Sunday.
The arrested man and woman have been identified as Samadhar Dhar (56) and Reena Dhar (44), both from Chittagong district in Bangladesh.
As per the officials, both accused were trying to smuggle the gold bangles and chains from Bangladesh to India through ICP Petrapole without any valid documents or customs declarations.
According to the BSF spokesperson, the ICP Petrapole is one of the most sensitive areas from the point of view of smuggling but BSF is continuously thwarting the plans of smugglers with their vigilant duty.
“The vigilant jawans of ICP Petrapole, 145 Battalion, BSF under South Bengal Frontier apprehended the two Bangladeshi passengers with five gold bangles and three gold chains red-handed. Both passengers were trying to smuggle these gold chains and bangles from Bangladesh to India through ICP Petrapole. The weight of the seized gold bangles and gold chains is approximately 194 grams and the estimated value is Rs 12,13,861,” said the official.
The BSF spokesperson further said that on January 13, the jawans of 145 Battalion, BSF during their daily duty at ICP Petrapole, noticed suspicious movement of some Bangladeshi passport passengers at 9.40 am. After the lady BSF personnel along with her other colleagues present on duty separated the two suspected passengers and searched them with modern equipment, five gold bangles and three gold chains worn by both the Bangladeshi passengers (one woman and one man) were recovered.
“The gold bangles and chain had been coated with dark copper to conceal them from the eyes of the search party,” said the official.
Both accused were trying to smuggle the gold bangles and chains from Bangladesh to India without any valid documents or customs declarations. The BSF personnel soon seized the gold and took both passengers into custody for questioning, added the official.
During interrogation, the passengers revealed that were husband and wife and were residents of Bangladesh. Samadhan Dhar further said that he was going to Kolkata for the treatment of his wife. His elder brother had given him all this gold jewelry which he had to sell in India to get his wife treated. But during the search by Border Security Force personnel while crossing ICP Petrapole, when no proper documents were available, they detained both of them along with gold bangles and chains.
The arrested passengers and seized gold jewelry have been handed over to Custom Office Petrapole for further legal proceedings.
The Public Relations Officer of South Bengal Frontier expressed happiness over this achievement of the jawans. He further said that notorious smugglers trap poor and innocent people by luring them with little money.
Notorious trafficking gangs are not directly involved in crimes like smuggling, so they target poor people. He has appealed to the people living on the border that if they get any information related to gold smuggling, they can give this information to BSF’s Seema Sathi helpline number 14419.
Apart from this, South Bengal Frontier has also issued a number and sad that messages related to gold smuggling can be sent. An appropriate reward amount will be given to the person giving concrete information and his identity will be kept secret. (ANI)
