NIA files charge sheet against 11 for smuggling gold worth over Rs 42 crore

New Delhi: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Thursday filed a charge sheet against 11 people for their alleged involvement in smuggling 83 kg of gold worth over Rs 42 crore, an official

Ravikiran Balaso Gaikwad, Pawan Kumar Mohan Gaikwad, Sachin Appaso Hasabe, Yogesh Hanmant Rupnar, Abhijeet Nand Kumar Babar, Avadhut Arun Vibhute, Saddam Ramjan Patel, Dileep Laxman Patil, Samadhan Shivaji Jagtap, Akshay Ramchandra Jadhav and Vishal Mahadev Shinde have been charged with the Indian Penal Code and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

The charge sheet was filed before a special NIA court here.

The NIA registered the case on September 16 last year, following the seizure of 83.621 kg smuggled gold bars with a market value of Rs 42.89 crore at the New Delhi railway station on August 28 from the possession of eight persons.

The accused had conspired and were part of a gang having international linkages for smuggling gold into India, the NIA official said.

The accused had collected the consignment from Guwahati for its delivery at New Delhi on the directions of their handlers who are suspected to have sourced the smuggled material from Myanmar, Nepal and Bhutan, he said.

The gold was initially smuggled into Guwahati and was on its way for further delivery to gold dealers in New Delhi, the NIA official said, adding that further investigation in the case is underway.