Sikar police to rope in central agencies for gold smuggling case

JAIPUR: A day after Sikar police arrested five members of a gang for robbing Rs 1.5 crore of smuggled gold from a rival gang, the district police have written to the Enforcement Directorate , customs, and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to look into the case.

Sikar SP Dr Amandeep Kapoor Singh told TOI that the local police have written to the ED and CBI given the nature of the crime as the gold was smuggled from Saudi Arabia.

“There is a violation of Foreign Exchange Regulation Act (FERA) and Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), a team from the customs department has already landed in Sikar,” he said, adding that the police suspect involvement of Hawala network in the smuggling too.

The police also arrested two more accused in the case, identified as Irfan and Valli who operated as couriers for Nagaur based gold smuggler Sher Mohammad. “The duo had brought gold from Saudi Arabia and were headed to Nagaur before Sher Mohammad’s rival gang robbed them near Neem Ka Thana in Sikar district,” Singh said.

The police on Saturday had arrested five persons- Bijju, Jawan Singh, Chain Singh, Iqbal and Balram Meel. The police said that the incident happened on March 7 when Sher Mohammad’s gold was being smuggled inside speakers, woofers and other electronic items. Under a railway over bridge, the five accused robbed the smuggled gold and decamped. A day later the police found that the robbery was the handiwork of a Saudi based smuggler Lal Mohammad. “Both Sher and Lal are arch rivals. Lal Mohammad had asked his Nagaur based driver to arrange for some criminals who could rob Sher Mohammad’s gold consignment,” added an official.

The initial investigation indicates that the gold was melted in Saudi Arabia and its color and shape were changed so that it could be concealed as parts of electronic appliances. “The couriers or conduits arrive with consignment at Delhi international airport. From there, they would leave for Nagaur where the gold would again be polished up and transported to Bikaner and Churu. Smugglers make huge profit from such smuggling rackets,” an official told TOI.