BSF recovers gold dust worth Rs 49 lakh from man at Petrapole

Gold dust worth over Rs 49 lakh was found concealed inside the anal cavity of a man by BSF personnel at Petrapole, near the Indo-Bangladesh border, the paramilitary force said in a statement on Thursday.

Jawans from the 145th Battalion of South Bengal Frontier apprehended the man—who claimed to be a fashion designer based out of Dubai—after discovering 564 grams of gold dust wrapped in polythene and hidden in his anal cavity on Wednesday, the statement said.

The seized gold dust has an estimated market value of Rs 49,13,624, it added.

The man, attempting to cross into India from Bangladesh, identified himself as a Mumbai resident.

''Driven by greed and the lure of quick money, he devised a plan to smuggle gold from Dubai to India via Bangladesh. However, his plan was foiled due to the vigilance and alertness of BSF jawans, leading to his arrest,'' the statement added.

The accused has been handed over to relevant authorities along with the seized gold dust.

Notably, two similar cases of gold smuggling—using the same method of concealment—were reported on February 20 and 21.

A total of 2.54 kg of gold, valued at around Rs 2.23 crore, was seized across these three incidents.