Kolkata, Jan 31 (IANS): The Border Security Force (BSF) had to get an X-Ray done on a smuggler to get hold of eight gold biscuits hidden inside his lower abdomen.

The biscuits weigh 932 gm and their estimated market value is Rs 54,78,855.

The incident occurred on Monday under the jurisdiction of the Amudia Border Outpost, manned by troops of the 112 BN, BSF. This is in the North 24-Parganas district of West Bengal that shares an international border with the Satkhira district of Bangladesh.

Madai Mandal of Amudia village was stopped by BSF personnel for a routine search.

Though no incriminating item was found during the search, the hand-held metal detectors kept beeping when brought close to his lower abdomen.

Mandal maintained that he wasn't aware why this was happening. Finally, the BSF personnel shifted him to a local hospital and got an X-Ray done.

The X-Ray plate revealed the presence of some metallic objects inside his lower abdomen.

"Mandal broke down finally and confessed that they were gold biscuits. He had been given the biscuits by one Rahim of Satkhira, Bangladesh and was to hand them over to one Suresh of Bithari village in North 24-Parganas. For a mere Rs 300, he had stuffed the biscuits up his anal passage. He also admitted that he has been involved in such activities for a long time now. The biscuits were extracted and handed over to the Customs office in Tentulia along with Mandal for further processing," a senior official of the BSF's South Bengal Frontier said.

The Commanding Officer of the 112Bn said that smugglers are adopting such tactics to evade strict monitoring along the International Boundary with Bangladesh.

A search has been launched for Suresh and others who may have been involved in this operation.

In the past, smugglers have tried such tactics at airports to evade Customs officials but this is probably the first time that an attempt was made along the land border in West Bengal.