Four held for gold smuggling
Four persons from the Old City have been arrested by the Hyderabad city police on charges of smuggling gold from Dubai. Property worth over Rs 1.5 crore have been seized from them.
Cash and gold worth 1.5 crore recovered
Hyderabad: Four persons from the Old City have been arrested by the Hyderabad city police on charges of smuggling gold from Dubai. Property worth over Rs 1.5 crore have been seized from them.
On credible information, the South Zone Task Force intercepted the accused and found huge amounts of cash, gold biscuits marked with foreign names and foreign currency in their possession.
The detainees were identified as Zafar Ahmed alias Zaki (28), four-wheeler broker from Chaderghat; Syed Wajeed (25), businessman from Teegalkunta; Arif Ali Shaik (40), airport representative at Western Hotel from Mirchowk and Mohd Taheruddin alias Asif (24), owner of a textile shop at Malakpet.
During investigation, the teams found that the accused, under the leadership of Mohammed Feroz Khan (32), a city native living in Dubai, formed a gang and had been smuggling gold from the airport and selling the same to prospective customers.
In a press meet at his office, City Police Commissioner M Mahender Reddy said the prime accused Feroz Khan bought gold in Dubai and sent it to Hyderabad through regular air passengers. “Once the carriers reach Hyderabad, Arif collects the yellow metal from them and sells it to jewellery shops or private parties with a profit of Rs 5 lakh to Rs 6 lakh per kg,” the commissioner said.
Mahender added that the racket was running for the past three months. “After selling the gold, they send money to Feroz Khan through hawala with which he buys the gold again and sends it back,” he said.
Answering a query, Mahender Reddy said further investigation would reveal whether any employee of RGIA was involved. The seized gold biscuits along with Rs 16 lakh cash, 2,500 riyals and 910 UAE dirhams would be handed over to the concerned officials.
