Court grants bail to two in Mopa gold smuggling case

Panaji: A North Goa court has granted bail to two persons— Kamran Ahmed Gayasuddin Khan and Mohomed Irfan Gulamnabi Balapatel— both arrested in a gold smuggling case at Mopa airport last month.

The investigating officer sought further judicial custody from the court, stating that out of the five persons summoned for recording statements, only two have come and their statements are material for collection of evidence for unearthing the entire chain of smuggling as well as financing through hawala channels.

The accused are in custody from October 22, the date of their arrest. The court stated that sufficient time was given to the investigating agency to carry out the investigation. “It is not the case of the investigating agency that the accused is a threat to society if released on bail. The grounds canvassed by the investigating agency are not justifiable to decline bail to the accused,” said Aruna P Fernandes, chief judicial magistrate, ‘A’ court, Panaji.

The court has directed the accused not to leave the state without prior permission of the investigating officer of the directorate of revenue intelligence (DRI) Goa, until the conclusion of the case.

The DRI Goa busted a gold smuggling syndicate and arrested three people last month for alleged illegal possession of 5.7kg gold and 28 units of the iPhone, all worth around Rs 4 crore.

The DRI said that the accused, who had travelled from Abu Dhabi with gold paste, are part of a gold smuggling syndicate operating between Mumbai and Dubai. They travelled from Mumbai to Abu Dhabi on October 12.

DRI sources said that based on specific intelligence, DRI Goa officials intercepted three passengers who arrived from Indigo flight 6E-1506 from Abu Dhabi to Manohar International Airport, Mopa.

During the search, the DRI officials found 7kg of gold paste (estimated quantity post-retrieval of 5.7kg) and 15 iPhones from three male passengers.