SSB seized gold bars along India-Nepal border, two persons apprehended

Kolkata: In back to back operations, troops of the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) seized two gold bars weighing 15 grams close to the India-Nepal Border at Panitanki in West Bengal, officials said.

Two persons have been apprehended and are being questioned regarding the matter.

In the first case, the SSB personnel stopped a taxi travelling from Nepal to India on the New Mechi Bridge at Panitanki around 1:05 p.m. on Saturday.

During baggage screening, the Border Intelligence Team detected a gold bar weighing 10 grams in the baggage of a male passenger, identified as Paras Lama (52).

During preliminary questioning, he said that the gold bar had been gifted to him by his sister nearly 10 years ago and that he intended to use it to get ornaments made in his hometown Gorabari in West Bengal's Darjeeling.

Lama is a resident of Hill Cart Road in Jorebungalow of Darjeeling.

It is unclear why he travelled to Nepal with the gold when he intended to get ornaments made in India.

The second incident occurred around 4:20 p.m. when the jawans stopped a taxi proceeding towards Nepal on the bridge.

During checking, the identities of the passengers were verified, and their baggage was checked.

During frisking, one female passenger, identified as Shanti Thapa (41), was found carrying a gold bar weighing 5 grams in her bag.

During questioning, Shanti said that she had purchased the gold bar nearly a year ago as a form of savings and that it had inadvertently remained inside her bag.

She was travelling from New Jalpaiguri Junction towards Gorkha in Nepal, via Panitanki and Kakarvitta, which is just across the border.

Shanti is a resident of Molangaon in the Sonitpur district of Assam. She is now being asked about her reason to travel to Nepal with the gold.

Smuggling of gold and other items across the porous India-Nepal border is common and has kept the SSB troops on their feet.

Both individuals, along with the gold bars have been handed over to the Customs department for further processing.

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