India seize 200 million INR worth gold smuggled from Sri Lanka
On the second day of search by scuba divers, deployed by the Indian Coast Guard and the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, the Central agencies recovered 11.600 kilos of gold from the seabed in the Gulf of Mannar, on Thursday.
The joint operation resulted in seizure of a total of 32.689 kilos of gold bars valued around 200 million INR from two fishing boats at the Gulf of Mannar, since May 30, when the consignment was smuggled into India from Sri Lanka.
Based on specific input from DRI on illegal smuggling of contraband from Sri Lanka to India, the joint teams kept a close watch on fishing vessels operating in the Gulf of Mannar, especially near the India-Sri Lankan International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL), a release said.
On 30 May, the team detected a suspicious boat approaching the Mandapam fishing harbour in the morning. When challenged, the boat tried to evade the team but was apprehended in the north Gulf of Mannar. While being chased, the suspects threw a consignment into the water. The boat, along with three suspects, was apprehended and taken into custody for investigation. Simultaneously, a major diving operation was launched by the Indian Coast Guard to search for the illegal gold dumped at sea.
Meanwhile, a separate team from DRI apprehended a second suspicious boat off Vedalai village, south of Mandapam. The boat had about 21.269 kilosg of smuggled gold, which was seized by DRI, along with two suspects, who were taken into custody.
After a relentless diving operation, off the coast of Mandapam, for two days, the ICG diving team, in coordination with local divers, successfully recovered the gold consignment from the seabed on Thursday morning. The seized contraband and suspects are in the custody of DRI for further legal action. The Hindu
