Alert Troops of ICP Petrapole, 145 Battalion, BSF under South Bengal Frontier have shaken the gold smugglers by making a huge seizure of gold for the second consecutive day. In this connection, on 26 February, 145 Battalion, BSF, foiling two separate gold smuggling attempts, arrested two Bangladeshi passengers with 08 gold biscuits at the passenger terminal of ICP Petrapole when the passengers were trying to smuggle Gold biscuits from Bangladesh to India by hiding it in their body. The weight of the seized gold biscuits is approximately 933.24 grams and the estimated value is Rs 58,56,082/-.
According to the BSF spokesperson, during the security check of passengers coming from Bangladesh at the passenger terminal of ICP Petrapole on February 26, at around 0720 am and 0740 am, alert BSF jawans found Bangladeshi female passenger Shaheenur Akhtar and Bangladeshi male passenger Suzon suspected. During a routine search, a metal detector indicated the presence of some metallic substance in the lower part of the passenger’s body. Thereafter, the lady constable on duty took the female passenger to the toilet for a thorough search and the male passenger was taken to the toilet for a thorough search by another male constable. During the search, 02 gold biscuits were recovered from the possession of the female passenger and 06 gold biscuits were recovered from the possession of the male passenger, which both of them had hidden in their private parts. The jawans detained both passengers and confiscated the gold biscuits.
The apprehended passengers have been identified as Shaheenur Akhtar W/o Akhtar Sikhdar, village-Yusufpur, district-Cumilla, Bangladesh, and Suzon Mridha S/o Muhammad Babul Mridha, resident-Arambag, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
During interrogation, Shaheenur Akhtar revealed that she had taken the consignment of gold from Anar Hussain in Gulistan, Dhaka. After taking the gold, he hid the gold biscuits in her private part. Shaheenur Akhtar further said that as per the instructions of Anar Hussain, she would reach the Kolkata Gulistan Hotel where an unknown person would take the gold from her. In return for this work she used to get Rs 10,000/-. and Suzon Mridha revealed that he had taken gold biscuits from Kamal Hossain in the Motijheel market of Dhaka. After taking the gold, he hid the gold biscuits in his rectum. He was told that after crossing ICP Petrapole, an unknown person would take the gold biscuits from him. In return for this work, he would have received Rs 15,000/- but while coming to India from Bangladesh via ICP Petrapole, both of them were searched at the search point, where both were caught with gold biscuits.
The arrested passengers and seized gold have been handed over to the Customs Office, Petrapole for further legal action.
BSF, South Bengal Frontier seized 2.477 kg of gold worth Rs 1.55 crore from six passengers in the last seven days at ICP Petrapole. All these passengers were trying to bring gold from Bangladesh to India illegally.
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 little 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 helpline number 9903472227. WhatsApp messages or voice messages related to gold smuggling can also be sent. The person giving concrete information will be given a suitable amount as a reward and his identity will be kept secret.
