Siliguri, July 13 (MExN): The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) officers seized 23 gold bars weighing 10.490 kg from four persons of Mizoram, who were staying at a hotel in Siliguri on July 11. The gold bars bearing foreign inscriptions are valued at Rs. 3.32 crore, according to a press release from DRI. They were smuggled into India from Myanmar through Indo-Myanmar border at Champhai, Mizoram. The accused travelled by bus to Siliguri and were headed for onward delivery to Kolkata, the release alleged. The four persons were arrested under the provisions of the Customs Act, 1962 and remanded to judicial custody. In the previous financial year (2017-2018), DRI seized close to 430 kg of gold and gold jewelry in the East and North East region collectively valued at more than Rs 110 crore. In the current financial year, it has seized over 162 kg of gold and gold jewellery valued at around Rs. 53 crore. The release stated anybody can support the fight against cross border crime, smuggling and trade based money laundering by giving information to DRI. The names of informer are not only kept confidential, but there is an excellent reward scheme also, which is Income Tax free, it said. For details of the reward scheme log on to http://dri.nic.in/main/reward and for contacting DRI, log on to http://dri.nic.in/main/contactus.
