IMPHAL: Troops of the Assam Rifles apprehended one alleged gold smuggler and recovered 10 gold biscuits smuggled into Manipur from Myanmar on Thursday.
The arrest and seizures were made during a routine frisking and checking operation at the Khudengthabi check post on the NH-102 Imphal to Moreh on Thursday at around 10.30 am, an official source said.
The gold bars weighing 1.66 kilograms and valued at around Rs 1.5 crores in the international market were detected when the 20 Assam rifles personnel carried out the operation from the alleged smuggler.
The alleged smuggler later identified as Lengjmang Ngamdei, 28, from Moreh Ward number 10 of Lamkhan Veng, Manipur’s Tengnoupal district bordering Myanmar was using his scooty vehicle black in colour when he was trying to smuggle the gold biscuits from Moreh international towards Imphal.
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The contraband items were concealed inside the shoes he was wearing, the source said.
From his spot interrogation, the Assam Rifles established that the gold bars were handed over to him from a smuggler across the border in Myanmar.
The items would be smuggled out to their counterparts outside the state.
The troopers of the 10 Assam Rifles Khudengthabi post in the Tengnoupal district of Manipur under the tutelage of the Inspector General of Assam Rifles (south) have foiled the smuggling attempt, the source said.
The arrested individual, the seized items, and impounded vehicle have been handed over to the anti-smuggling unit of the Land Customs, Moreh for further investigations, the official added.