Gold worth ₹2.5 crore seized in the Nilgiris

Gold worth ₹2.5 crore seized in Nilgiris due to lack of documentation during transport to private jewellery stores.

Flying squad officials in the Nilgiris seized ₹2.5 crore worth of gold being transported to the district by a private logistics company on Tuesday evening.

The jewellery was brought to the Nilgiris to be supplied to private jewellery stores and was seized after the company officials failed to submit necessary documents required for transporting the valuables.

The seizure was the first major seizure in the Nilgiris since the announcement of the Legislative Assembly election, following which the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) came into force, which stipulates that persons carrying more than ₹50,000 in cash and goods worth more than ₹10,000 should have adequate documentation.

Officials from the flying squads in the Nilgiris were conducting vehicle checks near Doddabetta on Tuesday when they stopped the vehicle carrying the jewels headed to Udhagamandalam. “During the search, we found gold worth ₹2.5 crore, for which the people in the vehicle were unable to provide documents. As a result, the gold, along with the van in which it was being carried was seized,” officials said.

The company has told officials that the gold was to be supplied to private jewellery stores in the Nilgiris. The gold was handed over to the revenue department and the company has been told to produce documentation proving their claims, following which the jewellery would be returned to them.

On Tuesday, the Nilgiris Collector Lakshmi Bhavya Tanneeru and Superintendent of Police N.S. Nisha also inspected vehicle checks by flying squads in the district. Officials said that ₹7 lakh in cash was seized from various persons on Tuesday, and that they have instructed them to produce documentation to return the seized amounts.