(District-North 24 Parganas)
On 18th March 2023, at about 1830 hrs, jawans of ICP Petrapole, 145 Battalion under South Bengal Frontier apprehended a smuggler posing as a truck driver along with 40 biscuits of gold weighing 4667 grams at the International Border. The total value of the seized gold is Rs.2,78,57,561/-.
The jawans on duty received information that a truck driver was going to smuggle gold from Bangladesh to India via ICP Petrapole. Immediately, a search team of jawans was formed as per the instructions of the BSF officials. A short time later, a suspected Bangladeshi truck entered India through ICP Petrapole. The BSF search team stopped the truck. The truck was found to be transporting fish from Bangladesh to India. The jawans searched the entire truck thoroughly and recovered 40 gold biscuits from the bottom of the fish box. The jawans immediately nabbed the truck driver along with the truck & gold and was brought to BSF camp for further questioning. The apprehended smuggler has been identified as Sushankar Das, District Satkhira, Bangladesh.
During interrogation, the truck driver revealed that he had been driving the truck for 15 years. He further revealed that on that day, the owner of the truck, Safikul Islam, a resident of Satkhira, had loaded fish into the truck from Roys International, Satkhira. After this, the fish were to be handed over to Baba International, Kolkata, upon arrival in India. However, the BSF searching team nabbed him at ICP Petrapole along with the gold biscuits.
The apprehended smuggler, along with the gold biscuits and the truck, was handed over to the Custom Office, Petrapole, Tentulia.
The Public Relation Officer of South Bengal Frontier stated that smugglers try to smuggle in different ways, but due to the vigilance and understanding of BSF jawans, smugglers are being caught continuously, and their plans are constantly being foiled. He expressed happiness on the jawans’ success. He also stated that the Border Security Force urges people living on the border to report any information related to gold smuggling to BSF’s Seema Saathi helpline number, 14419. Additionally, South Bengal Frontier has issued another number, 9903472227, on which WhatsApp or voice messages related to gold smuggling can be sent. People who provide concrete information will receive appropriate reward money, and their identity will be kept strictly confidential.
( Source: BSF)
