New Delhi, Aug 23 (IANS): The Border Security Force (BSF) said on Wednesday that it has foiled a jewellery smuggling bid at the India-Bangladesh international border and seized 23.130 kg of silver jewellery. 

"The estimated value of the seized silver is Rs 1,147,132. The smugglers were attempting to take the silver jewellery from India to Bangladesh," said a BSF official.

The official said that during a border patrol at 11:30 a.m., the soldiers at the Vijaypur border post in West Bengal’s Nadia district saw a man standing on the zero line.

The BSF patrol team approached the man and instructed him to surrender.

"However, instead of stopping, the man dropped some items and fled. Subsequently, the soldiers conducted a search of the area and found three large bags. Upon opening the bags, they recovered 23.130 kg silver jewellery," said the official.

The BSF said that the seized silver jewellery has been handed over to the Customs department in Bongaon for further legal action.

A.K. Arya, DIG of BSF South Bengal Frontier, said that the BSF is actively working to prevent crimes like smuggling on the India-Bangladesh border.

He also emphasised that anyone with malicious intentions on the border will not be spared, adding that the BSF's intelligence team will soon apprehend the smuggler.