Three held with 5kg gold bars

The seized gold bars in the DRI office in Siliguri on Sunday. Telegraph picture

TT, Siliguri, March 26: The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence seized around 5.5kg gold worth around Rs 1. 6 crore and arrested three persons from a Delhi-bound train at New Jalpaiguri station yesterday evening.

Ajay Choudhury, the lawyer representing the DRI, today said: "Based on a tip-off, a team of DRI officials was waiting at the NJP station. As the Delhi-bound train (Purvottar Sampark Kranti Express) reached the station yesterday afternoon, they raided one of the coaches and arrested three persons.

The arrested, Ahmed Ali, Muhammad Ali and Chaiful Ali, all residents of Assam, were brought to the DRI office at Collegepara here.

Later in the evening, after searching the trio, the officials recovered 32 gold bars from them which they were hiding in their shoes, the lawyer said.

Sources said the weight of the gold bars was around 5.5kg and the estimated price of the metal around Rs 1.6 crore.

The DRI officials suspect that the trio had smuggled the gold to India from Myanmar border. "We are trying to obtain more details about the racket that is using Siliguri as a corridor. A probe is on. The trio were produced in a court today," a source in the DRI said.

This is the second gold seizure by the DRI this month.

On March 15, the DRI had seized 11kg of gold and arrested four persons from Mallaguri here. On February26, two persons were arrested from Sevoke with 3kg of gold, worth Rs 95 lakh. DRI sources said an organised racket was involved in smuggling gold.