INDIA. Mumbai: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Thursday filed a charge sheet against 11 people for their alleged involvement in smuggling 83.62 kg of gold worth over Rs 42.89 crore which was seized from New Delhi railway station in August last year.
The charge sheet was filed against Ravikiran Balaso Gaikwad, Pawan Kumar Mohan Gaikwad, Sachin Appaso Hasabe, Yogesh Hanmant Rupnar, Abhijeet Nand Kumar Babar, Avadhut Arun Vibhute, Saddam Ramjan Patel, Dileep Laxman Patil, Samadhan Shivaji Jagtap, Akshay Ramchandra Jadhav, and Vishal Mahadev Shinde in case No. RC32/2020/NIA/DLI.
The charges have been leveled under section 120B, 204, 419, 468 & 471 of Indian Penal Code and Section 16, 18, 18B, 20, of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), 1967 (as amended in 2019).
A case was registered on September 20, 2020, following the seizure of 83.62 kg of smuggled gold bars having a market value of Rs 42.89 crore at New Delhi railway station on August 28, 2020, from the possession of the accused.
The accused had collected the consignment from Guwahati for its delivery at New Delhi on the directions of their handlers who are suspected to have sourced the smuggled material from Myanmar, Nepal, and Bhutan. After the seizure, a 10 member NIA team conducted raids at four locations(including Atpadi and Khanapur) in Sangli in Maharashtra on October 29, 2020, in connection with a gold smuggling case.
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The searches were conducted on the premises of persons allegedly connected to the smuggling syndicate that had procured the gold from countries like Myanmar, Bhutan, and Nepal. The locations where the raids were conducted were premises related to accused people and handlers from where the smuggling case originated. During the searches, incriminating documents and electronic devices containing details of suspicious transactions as well as of the people involved in the instant crime, having linkages abroad including Myanmar, Bhutan, and Nepal, were seized.
Subsequent investigation revealed that the charge-sheeted accused persons had conspired and were part of a gang having international linkages for smuggling gold into India.
