AP: Five Arrested in Vijayawada in Rs 5.84-Cr Foreign Gold Smuggling Case

Vijayawada, Oct 21 (TNT): Five persons have been arrested for their alleged involvement in smuggling foreign-origin gold from Bangladesh to Hyderabad via Kolkata, with officials seizing 3.147 kg of gold, USD 60,000 and 21,500 euros, collectively valued at Rs 5.84 crore, the agency said on Wednesday.

Acting on specific intelligence about a gang involved in smuggling foreign-origin gold, officers of the Hyderabad Zonal Unit (HZU) and Vijayawada Regional Unit (RU) conducted a coordinated operation and intercepted a Scorpio vehicle on the outskirts of Vijayawada.

Foreign currency concealed in a secret cavity in the vehicle was recovered.

During interrogation, the two occupants of the vehicle allegedly confessed to delivering the gold on the outskirts of Vijayawada and stated that the seized foreign currency represented part of the sale proceeds from the smuggled gold, the agency said in a release.

Acting swiftly, officials identified three persons carrying the gold who were travelling towards Hyderabad in a public bus.

They were intercepted at a toll plaza, where three foreign-origin gold bars weighing approximately 3.1 kg were recovered. The bars had been concealed in a pouch tied around their waists.

All five persons allegedly involved in procuring and transporting the contraband were arrested and produced before the jurisdictional magistrate, who remanded them to judicial custody.

Further investigation is in progress.

TNT KM