337 gram of gold was in hidden in hammers, punching machines, staplers to dodge the cops
Nagpur: The Nagpur Police on Wednesday busted an international gold smuggling racket by arresting persons at Dr Babasaheb International Airport in the city. The arrested persons were smuggling gold from Dubai. Cops have seized gold weighing about 337 grams worth Rs 15 lakh.
Gold Rate
Monday 10 Feb. 2025
The suspects, who had hidden the gold in punching machines, staplers and big hammers with wooden handles, were also allegedly involved in robberies. Cops took Irshad Ishaq Khan, Akram Malik Din Mohammad and Rahul Harishchandra Yadav, all residents of Nagaur, Rajasthan, into custody for interrogation. The accused are suspected to be members of an international gang smuggling gold and electronics goods from Dubai.
Investigating a robbery case, Nagpur police stumbled upon a novel modus operandi wherein labourers are being used to smuggle gold from Dubai by concealing the precious metal in handles of hammers, punching machines and other household goods. Having detected the robbery case, the city police are now preparing to expose international gold smuggling rackets and interstate gangs involved in robberies.
According to police, Mohammad Ali Jahangir Ali, a resident of Nagaur, Rajasthan, was standing near Agyaram Devi Chowk in Nagpur, around 5.20 am on September 5. Four men, including the suspects, came in a Toyota Innova car and thrashed him. They then took away his bag containing four iPhones, four Rolex wrist watches, mixer and other valuables. The bag was sent from Dubai by Mohammad Ali, Jahangir Ali’s friend with one Vakil Sahani. Mohammad Ali collected the bag from him at the airport and was returning to his hotel when the incident took place.
Following Mohammad Ali’s complaint, Ganeshpeth Police had registered a case under Sections 392 and 34 of the Indian Penal Code. During investigation, cops got specific inputs that the Dubai-based gang was sending the gold with some labourers in their bags which were either exchanged at the parking area of the airport or snatched away at some place by agents. A police team, led by Senior PI Bharat Kshirsagar under the supervision of Commissioner of Police Amitesh Kumar kept a strict vigil at the airport and nabbed Rahul Yadav with a bag that contained big hammers with wooden handles, staplers and punching machines. Upon checking the bag, police found gold bars worth Rs 15 lakh hidden in the staplers and punching machines.
After conducting a preliminary investigation, police alerted the customs officials in this regard.
