Indian smuggler nabbed with nearly 12 kg of silver in bicycle tyres
Darpan News Desk IANS, 27 Apr, 2022 10:07 AM
Kolkata, April 27 (IANS) An Indian smuggler has been nabbed by the Border Security Force (BSF) along the International Boundary (IB) with Bangladesh in Murshidabad district of West Bengal with nearly 12 kg of silver pellets hidden inside the tubes of his bicycle tyres.
The haul is valued at nearly Rs 8 lakh. The smuggler Abdul Baki Malitha (40) and the silver pellets have been handed over to the Customs department at Jalangi, Murshidabad, for further processing.
"Around 7.30 a.m. on Tuesday, Malitha, a resident of Ghoshpara village approached the gate of the border fence with a crop sprayer on his bicycle. Troops of the 141Bn BSF, from Border Outpost Farzipara, sensed something wrong with the body language of the villager who claimed that he was on his way to spray pesticide on his crops across the fence.
"The border patrolmen searched his bicycle and detected metal inside the tyres. On deflating them and cutting open the tubes, silver pellets weighing 11.95 kg fell out. These were to be smuggled to Bangladesh. Malitha may have planned to swap his bicycle with another one kept hidden close to a border pillar," a senior official of the BSF's South Bengal Frontier said.
During questioning, Malitha confessed that he had received the silver from Mahibul Mandal and Rabikul Mandal of Kailashgunj village in Jalangi.
He was tasked to deliver the pellets across the border for which he would be remunerated. Malitha came up with this innovative idea to send across the silver to Bangladesh.
Nagendra Singh Rautela, CO, 141Bn BSF, commended his troops for their alertness.
"We are committed towards preventing cross border crime and smuggling. Smugglers are adopting new techniques but our troops are a step ahead and thwarting all their efforts," he said.
The sources also said that they have identified around 22 mobile numbers of PFI student wing members who were present in the area before the violence erupted. They said that the probe agencies have been trying to ascertain their activities and they may be questioned by the Crime Branch of the Delhi Police.
The packet had come through the cargo to Sirajudeen on April 17, and on Monday a person named Naukul had come to take it. The officials used a gas cutter to open the meat slicer and recovered 2.26 kg of gold stacked inside the machine.
Terming the development as a black day in the history of Punjab, Badal said never before in the history of the state had outsiders been given control of the state and its future generations in this manner.
Sidhu has been left out in the cold ever since the party lost the elections in Punjab earlier this year. He was asked to resign after the party appointed Amrinder Singh Raja Warring as the new President of Punjab Congress. Since then the Congress has set up a new team in Punjab, reportedly annoying the former state Congress chief.
Announcing to replicate the Delhi Model in the state, the Chief Minister said 117 government schools and an equal number of mohalla clinics will be set up with one each in every assembly segment across the state to impart quality education and the state-of-the-art healthcare facilities.
A spokesperson for the Chief Minister's Office said the move is aimed at sprucing up the health and education infrastructure of Punjab by replicating the Delhi model in both these core sectors.
