5 Indians held with 36 gold bars in Bangladesh

Five Indians have been detained in Bangladesh for allegedly trying to smuggle in 36 gold bars concealed inside their rectum into the country believed to be a major conduit to sneak in the yellow metal into India. Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) officials detained them from a bus in Jessore district and seized the gold bars weighing 4.4 kg yesterday, The DailyStar reported.

Bijoy Kumar Chandra, Ruhith Ashok, Komal Otharar and Raj Kumar of Nagpur, and Rakesh of Ahmadabad arrived at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka from Dubai on June 19, the report quoted Col Motiur Rahman, commanding officer of BGB 26 Battalion as saying.

Bangladesh is believed to be a major conduit for smuggling gold into India, where the demand for the yellow metal is high and makes smuggling attractive after import curbs by New Delhi to cut-down foreign exchange outflow.

Yesterday, the five Indians came to Benapole by a bus and completed their immigration process to return to India. But instead of crossing the border, they mysteriously boarded a Jessore-bound bus, said Rahman.

After being informed, a BGB team chased the bus and detained them. Later, BGB officials recovered 36 gold bars hidden inside their rectum, he added. On Friday, Indian Customs officials held four persons crossing over from Bangladesh via Benapole border and seized 57 gold bars from their possession.

On June 5, Bangladesh authorities seized 48 gold bars worth over USD 300,000 at Dhaka airport. The gold bars were found hanging from a black cloth inside the cargo hold-off in a Biman Bangladesh Airlines flight.