Guwahati: Polices seize nearly 37 kg of suspected smuggled gold worth around Rs 55 crore

Guwahati: Billed as one of the biggest seizures in of Assam police, Guwahati Polices seized nearly 37 kg of suspected smuggled gold worth around Rs 55 crore was from the Kharghuli area of Guwahati late on Monday night.

A man from Maharashtra was arrested, with investigators suspecting the consignment to be part of a transnational smuggling network.

Police said that the operation was carried out by personnel of Latasil Police Station based on specific intelligence inputs. Besides the gold, police also seized around 15 grams of silver and four mobile phones.


The arrested person has been identified as Akshay Bhansure, a native of Sangli district in Maharashtra.

According to the police, he had been staying in Guwahati's Gandhibasti area for the past two months and was allegedly working as a courier for a gold smuggling syndicate.

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Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central) Shambhavi Mishra described the seizure as one of the most significant achievements of the Guwahati Police. "This is one of the largest gold seizures made by Guwahati Police. Based on intelligence inputs, our team had been tracking the movement of the consignment for some time, although we were initially unsure whether the information pertained to genuine or fake gold. After sustained surveillance, we intercepted the accused and recovered the gold."

She added, "The accused is physically disabled and had hidden the gold under a blanket. Preliminary investigation suggests that Bhansure had allegedly acted as a carrier in two previous gold smuggling operations. Our investigation indicates that this was his third attempt. Around 20 kg of gold had allegedly been smuggled successfully during his earlier assignments, while this consignment was intercepted before it could be delivered. He was reportedly paid around Rs 80,000 per month for acting as a carrier," Mishra added.

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Mishra said investigators had found indications of links to Middle Eastern countries, Myanmar and several major Indian cities. A case has been registered, and further investigation is underway to identify other members of the syndicate and the intended recipients of the seized gold.