32-kg gold seized at Attari check-post

GS Paul

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, December 6

In one of the biggest seizures of gold along the India-Pakistan border, the Customs Department recovered a 32-kg consignment from the Integrated Check-Post (ICP) last evening. Its market value is around Rs 10 crore.

The gold was concealed in an apple consignment from Afghanistan, loaded in a Pakistani truck.

Commissioner, Customs, Dipak Kumar Gupta said the truck entered Indian territory around 2.30 pm. “Our team found a carton of apples in which two gold bars weighing around 1.2 kg each were concealed, wrapped in black carbon paper. During a thorough checking of all cartons, 27 gold bars were recovered. They have a cumulative weight of 32.654 kg,” he said.

The identity of the New Delhi-based importer was yet to be disclosed. The gold bars, their packaging, the apples and the cartons were seized under Section 110 of the Customs Act, even as the truck was impounded.

Gupta said the Pakistani driver, identified as Gul Khan, was let off after questioning. The matter was being taken up by the Indian customs authorities with their Pakistani counterparts.

Aerial, land routes 

• During the current financial year, the Amritsar Customs Department has seized 43.93 kg of gold worth Rs 13 crore, including Wednesday’s haul
• Gold smuggling is mostly done through the aerial route, mainly from Middle East countries such as UAE, besides Thailand and Singapore
• Land route is used from Nepal and Bangladesh borders. Attari border is rarely used by gold smugglers
• In June-July, gold worth Rs 1.85 crore was seized from the international airports at Amritsar and Mohali