Police have detained a man with 150 gold bars, weighing 17 kg and 485 grams, from near Gabtoli bus stand in the city.
Published : 14 Apr 2014, 02:27 PM
Idris Ali, a sub-inspector at Darussalam Police Station, said the man, who identified himself as Zahidul Islam, 35, was caught in front of a petrol pump near the bus-stand around 8:30pm Monday.
The market value of the seized gold is approximately Tk 65 million.
The Officer-in-Charge of the police station Rafiqul Islam told bdnews24.com they believed Zahidul was part of an organised gold smuggling cartel.
He came to Gabtoli in a bus from Paltan, SI Ali said.
“During primary interrogation he said he was going to Jessore,” Ali added.
Authorities are examining whether he had plans to smuggle the gold into India from Jessore. Bangladesh has emerged a favourite conduit for smuggling gold into India after the government in that country imposed import restrictions on the yellow metal to curb foreign exchange outgo.