Officials arrest two Myanmarese of smuggling gold worth Rs 2.45 crore

About 7.5 kg of smuggled gold worth Rs 2.45 crore was recovered from Mizoram and two Myanmarese were arrested in this connection, an official said on Saturday.

Acting on a tip-off, officials of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) with the help of Assam Rifles, intercepted a vehicle coming from Aizawl to Silchar and recovered "45 pieces of gold biscuits weighing cumulatively 7.48 kg and worth Rs 2.45 crore from the baggage of two Myanmarese nationals," a statement said.

The two accused - Thang Thawn Mung and Do Sian Lang - could not produce any valid documents of import and possession of the gold biscuits and were arrested.

On interrogation, it was learnt that the "recovered gold was smuggled into the country from Myanmar through the Indo-Myanmar border of Zokhawtar in Mizoram and was to be delivered to Guwahati", it said.

With this seizure, in the current financial year, the DRI, in the region spread over West Bengal and the northeastern states, has seized over 298 kg of gold valued more than Rs 90 crore in the market, smuggled from Bangladesh, Myanmar, Bhutan, Nepal and China.