The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) presented two individuals in a local court on Friday who were apprehended with gold valued at Rs 4.72 crore at Surat International Airport.
The accused, Vipul Sheladiya and Abhay Kilaji, were remanded in judicial custody by the court. The gold was found hidden in their underwear and shoes. They were stopped for inspection following specific intelligence received by the DRI team.
The accused were arrested on Wednesday night upon their arrival on a flight from Sharjah. DRI officials confiscated around 6 kg of gold, both in bar and paste form.
DRI is currently looking into whether the accused have any connections to any gold smuggling syndicates.
It was anticipated that the illicit activities related to gold smuggling would decline following a major reduction in the customs duty on gold from 15% to 6% earlier this year. Major seizures of illegally imported gold, however, were becoming increasingly common.
On October 20, DRI arrested three individuals from the Surat railway station in possession of 8 kg of gold valued at Rs 7 crore. In the seizure, two individuals who flew to Ahmedabad from Dubai took a train to Surat. Until a receiver arrived to pick up the gold, DRI maintained a watch on them.
Deepak Behra from Mumbai and Naresh Singh from Punjab were named as the accused, while Gautam Oswal, a resident of the Adajan area, arrived to pick up the gold.
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