Lucknow: The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has seized 4.98 kg of smuggled foreign-origin gold, valued at approximately Rs 7.11 crore, from a woman passenger aboard the Brahmaputra Mail at Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Junction in Varanasi and arrested her under the Customs Act, officials said.The operation was carried out on July 22 following specific intelligence that a woman travelling from Cooch Behar to New Delhi was transporting smuggled foreign-origin gold allegedly routed into India through Bangladesh.Based on the intelligence, DRI officers mounted a coordinated surveillance operation and intercepted the woman in B4 coach of the Brahmaputra Mail at Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Junction.During her personal search, officers recovered 13 foreign-origin gold bars weighing approximately 1.5 kg concealed in a cloth waist belt worn by the passenger.
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A subsequent search of her handbag led to the recovery of 29 more foreign-origin gold bars weighing around 3.48 kg.In all, 42 foreign-origin gold bars weighing 4.98 kg were recovered from the passenger.The gold, estimated to be worth ₹7.11 crore, was seized under the provisions of the Customs Act, 1962. The woman was arrested and produced before the Special Chief Judicial Magistrate, Varanasi, who remanded her to 14 days of judicial custody.
