Kishanganj (WB), Nov 26 (PTI) The BSF has busted a major gold smuggling racket operating along the Indo-Bangladesh border in North Bengal, seizing nearly 2 kg of gold and arresting two persons, officials said on Wednesday.
Acting on specific intelligence inputs received by a team of the BSF’s Kishanganj sector, troops intercepted an Indian national, Ratan Bishra (23), at the IBBF gate on November 24 while he was returning from agricultural fields located close to the international border fence.
Bishra, a resident of Indira Colony in Uttar Dinajpur district, was carrying a bundle of dry tree branches, inside which BSF personnel found gold bars weighing 1,963.72 grams concealed, officials said. Two mobile phones were also recovered.
The seized gold is valued at around Rs 2.5 crore, they added.
Following his interrogation, the BSF launched a follow-up operation the same day and apprehended the alleged handler, identified as Dhanaji Namdev Bhuje (34) of Maharashtra’s Sangli district, from Caltex Chowk in Bihar’s Kishanganj.
Both men were later handed over to the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), Berhampore in Murshidabad district, for further investigation.
A BSF officer said the arrests mark a significant breakthrough in cracking a gold smuggling network active along the border.
“Intelligence agencies had been tracking the racket for some time. Continuous surveillance and operatives’ activation helped pinpoint the courier and his link,” the officer said.
Further arrests may follow based on ongoing interrogation and investigation, officials added. PTI PNT NN
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