Indian smuggler nabbed with nearly 12 kg of silver in bicycle tyres

Kolkata, April 27 (IANS) An Indian smuggler has been nabbed by the Border Security Force (BSF) along the International Boundary (IB) with Bangladesh in Murshidabad district of West Bengal with nearly 12 kg of silver pellets hidden inside the tubes of his bicycle tyres.

The haul is valued at nearly Rs 8 lakh. The smuggler Abdul Baki Malitha (40) and the silver pellets have been handed over to the Customs department at Jalangi, Murshidabad, for further processing.

"Around 7.30 a.m. on Tuesday, Malitha, a resident of Ghoshpara village approached the gate of the border fence with a crop sprayer on his bicycle. Troops of the 141Bn BSF, from Border Outpost Farzipara, sensed something wrong with the body language of the villager who claimed that he was on his way to spray pesticide on his crops across the fence.

"The border patrolmen searched his bicycle and detected metal inside the tyres. On deflating them and cutting open the tubes, silver pellets weighing 11.95 kg fell out. These were to be smuggled to Bangladesh. Malitha may have planned to swap his bicycle with another one kept hidden close to a border pillar," a senior official of the BSF's South Bengal Frontier said.

During questioning, Malitha confessed that he had received the silver from Mahibul Mandal and Rabikul Mandal of Kailashgunj village in Jalangi.

He was tasked to deliver the pellets across the border for which he would be remunerated. Malitha came up with this innovative idea to send across the silver to Bangladesh.

Nagendra Singh Rautela, CO, 141Bn BSF, commended his troops for their alertness.

"We are committed towards preventing cross border crime and smuggling. Smugglers are adopting new techniques but our troops are a step ahead and thwarting all their efforts," he said.