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.
The electronic conversation took place as US President Joe Biden announced on Thursday that India will receive Covid vaccines directly from the US stockpile, the White House said.
The Chief of Army Staff (COAS), General M.M. Naravane, reached Kashmir on Wednesday on a two-day visit to review the prevailing security situation in the Union Territory (UT), the army said in a statement.
"There have been several unfounded media reports that have peddled misinformation among the masses regarding this exercise of national importance," a ministry statement said, adding that the total number of Covid vaccine doses administered in the country so far stand at 21,85,46,667.
The Congress said that it was "appropriate for our initial statement to note that the intrusion by Israeli forces into the Holy Al Aqsa mosque during Ramzan prayers had ruptured the delicate peace in the region".
The Delhi High Court on Tuesday suggested the young patients should be prioritised in the distribution of Liposomal Amphotericin B drug, used for treating black fungus, "as they hold promise of future over the older ones who have lived their lives".
