On Friday, Reasi SSP Rashmi Wazir received information from reliable sources that few persons based in Delhi and Katra are running illegal business by bringing gold from Guwahati.
With the arrest of four smugglers and recovery of nearly 1.5 kilograms of gold in Katra town, Jammu and Kashmir Police on Saturday claimed it smashed an inter-state gold smuggling racket that was operating in three to four states.
“On Friday, Reasi SSP Rashmi Wazir received information from reliable sources that few persons based in Delhi and Katra are running illegal business by bringing gold from Guwahati and thereafter making wrongful gains by selling it illegally,” said Katra SP Amit Bhasin.
They were using three people as couriers for smuggling gold from Guwahati to other parts of India.
“These people brought gold by illegal ways to sell it in Katra and other places to make wrongful gains. Acting on the tip-off, a police team conducted raids at various places in Katra and arrested four people from whom nearly 1.5 kilograms of gold was recovered,” Bhasin added.
The total market value of the seized gold was over Rs 80 lakhs.
The officer refused to divulge the identity of the arrested accused saying, “doing so at this stage may hamper our investigations.”
He informed that the seized gold was in the form of biscuits.
“The racket was being run in three to four states,” he added.
A case under sections 420, 109 of the Indian Penal Code was registered at Katra police station.
A senior police officer, however, identified the four accused as Amandeep Singh, son of Shamsher Singh of Durga Puri Haibowal, Ludhiana, presently putting up at Patel Nagar in New Delhi; Haresh Kumar, son of Hindosh Kumar of Simbli Tehsil in Jammu district; Rohit Kumar, son of Parshotam Kumar of Agarjitto in Katra, and Sunny Kumar, son of Nek Ram of Dhanas Tehsil in Udhampur district. ( HT )
