Media Release
Mangaluru, Nov 9: Acting on a tip-off that a person is smuggling gold in a bus, officers of Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) Regional Unit, Mangaluru, successfully conducted an anti-smuggling operation at KSRTC bus stand in Bejai on Friday, November 8, intercepted the said passenger and recovered 1.5 kg gold from his possession.
The officials received credible information from a source that a person named Sibgatullah Kola (31) from Bhatkal was carrying smuggled gold and travelling in KSRTC Airavat Bus from Bengaluru to Manipal.
The bus was scheduled to arrive KSRTC Mangaluru bus stand at 4.15 pm on Friday, and the officials spread a net to apprehend Kola in Mangaluru.
Sibgatullah Kola had deftly concealed 13 pieces of gold tola bars of foreign origin inside Marlboro brand cigarette packets. On being questioned, he failed to produce any receipt or purchase bills for the said gold tola bars. When asked to explain the source of the gold and the reasons for transporting the same in a clandestine manner, he stated that the said 13 gold tola bars were smuggled by him during his international travel from Dubai to Singapore and Singapore to Chennai.
During interrogation, he revealed that he had specifically chosen a roundabout journey from Dubai via Singapore to hoodwink the customs authorities since Singapore is not considered a hotspot for smuggling gold. He also stated that after getting cleared from Chennai International Airport, he took a bus from Chennai to Bengaluru and later from Bengaluru to Udupi and was on his way to Bhatkal when he was intercepted at the Mangaluru bus stand. He also stated that one person of Bhatkal origin had given him the gold and he was only a carrier. He confessed that he agreed to smuggle gold for money.
In a press release, DRI Mangaluru deputy director Shreyas KM said that the gold was weighed and assessed by a jeweller, who confirmed that the 13 gold bars are of 24 carat purity and totally weighed 1515.700 grams. The current market value for the seized gold is 59.52 lacs.
The contraband gold was later seized by the officers of DRI under the provisions of the Customs Act, 1962. The passenger Sibghatullah was arrested for attempting to smuggle gold tola bars into the country.
Further investigation in the case is in progress.