Media Release

Mangaluru, Mar 19: The officers of Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), on March 11, intercepted two persons Syed Mohammed and Ashoka K S at Mangaluru Central Railway Station and recovered 5.6 kgs of gold bars in crude form.

The operation was conducted based on specific information about a network of operators who were bringing smuggled gold in the form of crude bars from Calicut to Mangaluru. The gold was then remelted and cast into 100 gms bars with foreign markings, using foreign marking moulds, and then distributed to various locations in Karnataka.

Further, one Manjunath Shet alias Rupesh who was supposed to receive the said gold from the passengers, was also apprehended at the parking lot of the railway station. Simultaneous searches were conducted at three different premises in Car Street in Mangaluru, Udupi, and Shivamogga. The source of the gold was traced to melters/jewellers in Calicut and an immediate follow-up action was conducted leading to seizures of gold and Rs 82 lac cash. Two Toyota Etios cars belonging to the syndicate having specially designed cavities for concealment which were used for transporting cash and gold between Calicut and Mangaluru were also seized. 

Overall, seven persons were arrested during the entire operation. Naveen Chandra Kamath of Udupi, who is the master mind involved in the case was also apprehended. Further investigation is in progress in the said case to uncover the other persons involved in the racket. The team constituted of 40 officers from Bengaluru, Mangaluru and Shivamogga took part in the coordinated effort.

The total seizure was 9.3 kgs of gold, valued at approximately Rs 4 crore, 5.2 kgs of silver along with Rs 84 lac in cash.