District-North 24 Parganas,
On 28 January 2024, Vigilant troops of Border outpost Gobardha, 102 Battalion BSF, under the south Bengal frontier thwarted the Gold smuggling attempt and apprehended a smuggler with 10 gold biscuits weighing 1.178 Kg while being smuggled from Bangladesh to India. The estimated value of the seized gold biscuits is Rs 74,17,713.25/-/-.
As per the BSF Spokesperson, Troops of Border Outpost Gobardha Acting received specific information about the gold smuggling attempt by a suspected person. At about 0800 hrs on 27 January, Alert BSF troops during routine frisking of a villager’s metal detector indicated the presence of some metallic substance in the lower part of the body. troops asked the person to surrender any illegal items in his possession, on which the accused produced 03 packets packed in condoms containing 10 gold biscuits which were concealed inside his rectum. Troops apprehended the suspected person along with gold biscuits.
The apprehended smuggler was identified as Abhijeet Banerjee(44 years) S/o Late Paritosh Banarjee, Village – Pandit Para (Gobardha), North 24 Parganas, West Bengal.
During interrogation, he revealed that he received the consignment from a Bangladeshi national named Rajab Ali of Village Baikari, Satkhira, Bangladesh and was going to deliver the consignment to an unknown person of Indian smuggler at Gobardha market. He is a carrier of illegal goods. His house is situated near the international border. The area is unfenced and takes advantage of a porous border, which is very helpful in smuggling activity. when he was trying to cross with gold BSF troops caught him with the gold. He also said that He was also arrested in 2014 with 03 gold biscuits by the Customs authority.
The apprehended smuggler and seized gold biscuits have been handed over to the Customs Office, Tentulia.
On this achievement of the jawans, the Public Relations Officer of South Bengal Frontier, A.K. Arya, DIG expressed happiness. He further said that notorious smugglers trap poor and innocent people by luring them with small amounts of 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 another number 9903472227. WhatsApp messages or voice messages related to gold smuggling can also be sent. An appropriate reward amount will be given to the person giving concrete information and his identity will be kept secret.
