Kolkata, March 3 (IANS) The Border Security Force (BSF) personnel on Friday apprehended two cross-border smugglers and seized 2.56 kg gold biscuits valued at Rs 1.5 crore from them.
The smugglers were nabbed at the Haridaspur-Jayantipur border at Bongaon sub-division in North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal.
A source said that the patrolling team of the BSF tracked the two arrested individuals whose movements looked suspicious.
When the patrolling team questioned them about their whereabouts, they gave "irrelevant and inconsistent answers", and suddenly tried to escape.
However, the BSF personnel quickly nabbed them.
The arrested persons have been identified as Zahir Hossain Mollah and Giasuddin Mondal. Both are residents of North 24 Parganas district.
During questioning, they admitted that they crossed the border to Bangladesh to get the gold biscuits from one Karim Mondal -- a resident of Jessore district there.
They were supposed to smuggle those gold biscuits from Bangladesh to India and hand them over to one Raju Biswas, who is also a resident of North 24 Parganas district.
The arrested duo were supposed to get Rs 20,000 each for carrying out the assignment.
Referring to police action against protesting farmers in Congress-ruled Rajasthan, the BJP leader said, "Congress leaders who are very keen to visit Lakhimpur Kheri have not uttered a single word against police lathicharge on farmers in Hanumangarh, Rajasthan."
Comparisons are on in social media whether this arrest could change the Congress fortunes as after Indira Gandhi's arrest and later in the election in 1980 the Congress returned with a thumping majority.
During the 45-minute long meeting with the Home Minister, Channi also discussed the security situation of the state and demanded that the border must be sealed properly to effectively prevent the smuggling of weapons from Pakistan.
It is the largest agricultural protest to take place in India and others from around the world have also joined in, tens of thousands of farmers have camped for months on major highways to New Delhi to oppose the three laws.
On Thursday night, Shah reached to Nadda's residence and meeting between the two leaders lasted for about an hour. The Shah-Nadda meeting came after a series of events. Earlier, on Wednesday, Amarinder met Shah.