Guwahati: Regular reports of gold being seized by various government agencies have become common in Assam, especially in Guwahati, the hub of northeast India. International gold smuggling gangs have put up camps in and around Guwahati, turning it into a hot-spot of illegal gold-smuggling and transit.
If we just look at the amount of gold being recovered by railway GRP and RPF it gives us an idea of the scale of this smuggling operation. Remember, not every time the government agencies are lucky.
According to available reports, in past two years, from November 2017 till date, gold worth ₹26.71 crore has been recovered from Guwahati Railway Station weighing 66.775 kg.
Gold is being illegally brought from neighboring Myanmar by couriers and smugglers to Guwahati. A part of it is melted, and from here, it is smuggled to other places of India. Some of the gold is also sourced to local jewellery shops based in Guwahati where it is melted and then sold off to customers without paying the tax. The railway police have arrested many gold smugglers and couriers in their never-ending search operations. The security agencies regularly launch search operations and confiscate gold hidden in secret cavities of the train and luggage compartments.
The gold smuggling gangs are using new tactics to stay one step ahead of the agencies. For gangs based in Myanmar, Indian Railways has become a convenient mode to smuggle this illegal gold to various parts of India. The Guwahati Railway Station has become the centre of their activities and for the Railway Police Force and the GRP it has become a daunting task to keep a check on this smuggling activity. It is actually a cat and mouse story between the gold smugglers and the government agencies.
