Nagpur: The international gold smuggling racket seemed to have left security and intelligence agencies engaged at the airport red faced. The smugglers had started using Nagpur as a transit route instead of Delhi. Sources said that commissioner of police Amitesh Kumar had alerted the airport authorities and security and intelligence agencies regarding the racket.
The city police had busted the racket while investigating a robbery complaint.
It is learnt, the gold smugglers had shifted their base to Nagpur around a month ago. Sources said that after no heed was paid to Kumar’s input during an internal security review meeting, the top cop swung into action. Cops seized 28 tola gold worth Rs 15 lakh from three racketeers, identified as Rahul Yadav, Akram Malik and Irshad Khan, all natives of Rajasthan. The gold was smuggled concealed in hammers, punching machines and other materials.
According to a theory, the smugglers chose Nagpur as a transit route over Delhi due to their link with a senior official serving in the intelligence and security agencies engaged at airports. The official, earlier posted in Delhi, was recently transferred to Nagpur.
Sources also stated that the racketeers considered Nagpur as a low-risk route with a view that dodging security and screening at Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar International Airport is easier than at other cities as only one international flight is operating from here.
A native of Rajasthan, who was probably involved in gold smuggling, had approached the Ganeshpeth police station this week stating he was robbed near Agyaram Devi Chowk. Following a tip-off, police nabbed the three racketeers from a place near the airport where they had received a gold consignment coming from Dubai via Sharjah-Nagpur flight. The robbed valuables are yet to be recovered.
CP Kumar said the trio was caught in the robbery case but certain facts about gold smuggling had come to light during their custodial interrogations.
“Though smuggling is done to evade tax, the channel can be misused for other illegal activities too in future. All the necessary actions and correspondence have been done with the other agencies who would probe the smuggling angle. Police will continue to probe the robbery case in which more actions are expected,” the top cop said.
It’s reliably learnt that a team of Ganeshpeth police has already left for Rajasthan to conduct further investigation.
The city police had busted the racket while investigating a robbery complaint.
It is learnt, the gold smugglers had shifted their base to Nagpur around a month ago. Sources said that after no heed was paid to Kumar’s input during an internal security review meeting, the top cop swung into action. Cops seized 28 tola gold worth Rs 15 lakh from three racketeers, identified as Rahul Yadav, Akram Malik and Irshad Khan, all natives of Rajasthan. The gold was smuggled concealed in hammers, punching machines and other materials.
According to a theory, the smugglers chose Nagpur as a transit route over Delhi due to their link with a senior official serving in the intelligence and security agencies engaged at airports. The official, earlier posted in Delhi, was recently transferred to Nagpur.
Sources also stated that the racketeers considered Nagpur as a low-risk route with a view that dodging security and screening at Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar International Airport is easier than at other cities as only one international flight is operating from here.
A native of Rajasthan, who was probably involved in gold smuggling, had approached the Ganeshpeth police station this week stating he was robbed near Agyaram Devi Chowk. Following a tip-off, police nabbed the three racketeers from a place near the airport where they had received a gold consignment coming from Dubai via Sharjah-Nagpur flight. The robbed valuables are yet to be recovered.
CP Kumar said the trio was caught in the robbery case but certain facts about gold smuggling had come to light during their custodial interrogations.
“Though smuggling is done to evade tax, the channel can be misused for other illegal activities too in future. All the necessary actions and correspondence have been done with the other agencies who would probe the smuggling angle. Police will continue to probe the robbery case in which more actions are expected,” the top cop said.
It’s reliably learnt that a team of Ganeshpeth police has already left for Rajasthan to conduct further investigation.