6.86 kg of gold smuggled from Sri Lanka seized in India

The Q Branch police of India seized 6.86 kg of gold biscuits smuggled from Sri Lanka by sea and detained a person, even as three of his accomplices escaped, the Hindu reported. 

Acting on specific intelligence, a five-member team, headed by Inspector R. Kennedy, seized the gold biscuits with foreign markings from K. Nazeer (36), who landed at Mandapam north fishing jetty near Rameswaram.

On coming to know that Nazeer and his accomplice Abudhagir had set out to the sea on Sunday afternoon in a motorised ‘vallam’ (country boat) on the pretext of fishing, the Q Branch police personnel had been waiting on the shores posing as fishermen since Sunday night.

Nazeer, who hailed from Kilakarai, was walking to the shore after alighting from the ‘vallam’ when the Q Branch police caught him, Mr. Kennedy said. The accused was found carrying the gold biscuits in a cloth belt tied around his waist.

The belt had separate chambers to conceal the 69 pieces. The biscuits, valued at about Rs. 2.40 crore, weighed 100 gm each. On seeing the police, Abudhagir and two of others, Ameer and Anwar, escaped.

All the accused hailed from Kilakarai and the gold biscuits were to be delivered in Chennai. Nazeer told the police that he was waiting on the high seas around midnight, when two persons from Sri Lanka came in a fibre glass boat and handed over the gold biscuits. Mr. Kennedy said the accused had earlier smuggled gold on four or five occasions.