'Gold came from Bangladesh'

Ruling Trinamul Congress leader Abdul Barik Biswas had smuggled a huge consignment of contraband gold from Bangladesh, India's revenue intelligence has deposed in court.

India correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 10 March 2014, 04:18 AM
Updated : 10 March 2014, 11:39 AM

An official of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) told reporters that the nearly 45 kgs of gold they seized was stashed in a leather bag in Abdul Barik's car.

"We had specific information that he (Barik) would be heading for Kolkata with the gold smuggled from Bangladesh. We were waiting at Beliaghata (in north Kolkata) and spotted the car in which Barik was travelling. We stopped and searched the vehicle," the DRI official said.

"While searching the car, we found the huge quantity of gold stashed in a leather bag under the seat," he said.

Barik and his driver were produced in a Kolkata court which remanded them to jail custody until Mar 12 to facilitate questioning.

DRI officials say that there has been a huge spurt in gold smuggling since hike in import duties in August 2013. From an import duty at Rs 22000 a kg, it has now shot up to nearly 3 lakh rupees a kg, accounting for the customs duty and three percent tax.

Trinamul Congress leader Abdul Barik Biswas. Photo: 24ghanta.com

"Much of the contraband gold is coming in from United Arab Emirates, Thailand and Singapore but they are mostly routed through Bangladesh," the DRI official said.
Seizures of contraband gold have shot up in Bangladesh's airports in recent months.
Meanwhile, the Trinamul Congress sought to distance itself from Abdul Barik Biswas, whose brother Golam Biswas is a Zilla Parishad member of North 24-Pargana district representing West Bengal's ruling party.
Bengal food and civil supplies minister Jyotipriya Mullick, who oversees the Trinamul's North 24-Parganas district unit, said: "The relations between the two brothers were very hostile. Barik had even tried to get Golam killed once."
But some Trinamul sources said Barik was known to giving huge donations to the party and was a regular at major rallies.
Local BSF and police officials say Barik was not only connected with cattle smuggling into Bangladesh but also linked to a woman trafficking gang operating on the West Bengal-Bangladesh border.

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