Kolkata, June 22 : The South Bengal Frontier of the Border Security Force (BSF) made a breakthrough on Saturday by apprehending three persons along the Indo-Bangladesh border in West Bengal with 30 gold biscuits weighing 3.4 kg and valued at around Rs 2.48 crore in the Indian market. The gold was being smuggled into India from Bangladesh.

"The operation was carried out under the jurisdiction of the Bornberia Border Outpost in the Nadia district of West Bengal, based on inputs from the Intelligence Department of the BSF. An ambush was laid near the Kulgachhi village. Before long, three persons were spotted on two motorcycles and a three-wheeler van. There was some interaction taking place over the handing over of a consignment. The three were immediately taken into custody and the 30 gold biscuits were seized from them," said A.K. Arya, DIG and spokesperson, BSF, South Bengal Frontier.

The BSF official said that one of the smugglers during interrogation confessed that he has been working for a kingpin based at Banpur for the last few days. His job was to hand over the gold to couriers for further delivery. He would be paid well for this job.

"The other two admitted that they are couriers and would hand over smuggled gold to an unknown person at Bongaon in the North 24-Parganas district of West Bengal. They said they would receive good payment for this," Arya said.

All three, along with the gold, have been handed over to officials of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) in Kolkata for further legal action.

"This was a commendable performance by our personnel. The BSF is doing whatever it takes to curb crime along the Indo-Bangladesh border. We would urge border residents who wish to live in a crime-free environment to report any information related to gold smuggling to the BSF's 'Seema Sathi' helpline at 14419 or send a message (text or voice) to 9903472227. Those providing concrete information will be suitably rewarded and their identities will remain confidential," Arya said.

/IANS