Kolkata, Nov 5 (IANS): The Border Security Force on Sunday seized Rs 10 crore of smuggled gold after intercepting a motorcycle-borne individual at Bagda close to the Benapole-Petrapole India-Bangladesh border post in West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district.

The person, arrested by jawans of BSF's 68 Bn, has been identified as Ajar Mondal, a resident of Rajkol village quite close to the international border.

BSF sources said that a total 17 gold bars weighing 16.70 kg, whose estimated market price is Rs 10.25 crore, were seized from a belt that Mondal was sporting. On interrogation, he has confessed that he was just a carrier of the smuggled gold and that he received the consignment from one Alam Modal, a resident of a village in Bangladesh and was supposed to hand over the consignment to one person at Bangaon in North 24 Parganas.

The BSF personnel later handed over the arrested accused and the seized gold to the Customs Department.

This is the third major success of BSF in North 24 Parganas within a span of just two weeks. On October 22, the BSF sleuths arrested two Bangladeshi citizens at Benapole-Petrapole border with smuggled gold bands and biscuits worth around Rs 1.23 crore. Again on November 2, the BSF jawans seized smuggled gold biscuits worth Rs 4 crore from near the same IB and arrested one person in this connection.