Smuggler nabbed with 4 gold biscuits in Tripura; GRP detains 4 B’deshi nationals

AGARTALA — The Border Security Force (BSF) on Saturday arrested a smuggler and recovered four gold biscuits from his possession, while the Government Railway Police (GRP) detained four Bangladeshi nationals and an Indian middleman from the Agartala railway station.

BSF sources said that acting on a tip-off, its troops arrested Prashant Rai (36), a resident of Amtali on the outskirts of Agartala, from Nischintapur, a bordering village in western Tripura.

“Later, four gold biscuits (weighing 466 gm) valued at INR 36.6 lakh were recovered from Rai’s possession. He has admitted his involvement in trans-border smuggling of gold and revealed that the consignment was handed over to him by a Bangladeshi smuggler named Iqbal, a resident of Brahmanbaria,” a BSF official said.

In a separate incident, the GRP detained four Bangladeshi nationals and an Indian middleman from the Agartala railway station, who were about to board a Secunderabad-bound train.

The Bangladeshi nationals told the police that they came to Tripura via a clandestine route and were attempting to reach Hyderabad in search of jobs.

The detainees have been identified as Jahangir Alam, M.N. Hussain, Omran Hossain, and Riyad Hossain. The Indian middleman has been identified as Rofiqul Islam.