KOLKATA: The special task force (STF) of Kolkata police on Tuesday seized unaccounted-for cash worth around 1 crore and
gold valued at Rs 2.4 crore and arrested four persons on
Sudder Street. The seizure is one of the highest made by Kolkata Police in recent times in a single raid. Officers said the gold was being smuggled through Bangladesh.
“We got a tip-off and raided the suspects’ hideout at 4pm.
We found 6.3kg of gold and the cash,” joint CP (STF) Subhankar Sinha Roy said. The suspects — two brothers Moloy Bhowmick (24) and Partha Bhowmick (27) are residents of Nodakhali in South 24 Parganas, while the two others, identified as Saikat Adhikary and Subrata Adhikary (27) are residents of Uluberia in Howrah.
STF sources said
smuggled gold makes its way into India from Dubai via Bangladesh. The gold is then transported to areas like Bowbazar and Burrabazar, where it is then made into ornaments and re-routed abroad. Some of the gold is kept in the country as reserve as it is a safer method to stash black money. “There is a huge demand for gold in India and smugglers from Bangladesh make a lot of money with this,” an officer said.