DRI seizes 14 kg of gold worth Rs 10 crore, five held

TIRUCHY: Even before the shock over the huge haul of gold in the sea off Rameswaram some weeks ago is yet to die, two Directorate of Revenue Intelligence teams on Monday night seized a whopping 13.952 kgs of gold worth around Rs 10 crore reportedly smuggled from Sri Lanka via Pudukkottai in two different places and arrested five fishermen in connection with the case.

Sources said that acting on specific intelligence input about the movement of a huge quantity of gold in the coastal region between Pudukkottai and Ramanathapuram during the late evening on Monday, two special teams of DRI were formed and search operations were launched in different areas to seize the consignment and the arrest the culprits.  While one team intercepted a person at Ramanathapuram and seized 5.89 kgs of gold stuffed in six packets, the other team intercepted another person in the Sivangagai district and during a search of his belongings found that he was carrying 7 packets of gold weighing 8.060 kgs concealed in a box. Overall, the DRI teams seized close to 14 kg of gold and the total value of the seized consignment would be worth around Rs 10 crore.

Preliminary investigations revealed that a gang had smuggled gold from Sri Lanka, through the sea in a small fibre boat. The teams had arrested as many as five fishermen in connection with the two seizures. However, the DRI personnel refused to disclose the names of the arrested persons. Further investigations are on.