Kolkata, Oct 28: The Border Security Force (BSF) foiled a major gold smuggling attempt across the Indo-Bangladesh Border by arresting a smuggler and seizing gold worth more than Rs 2.45 crore from him in the North 24-Parganas district of West Bengal.

A senior BSF official stated that troops of the 145 Bn BSF, South Bengal Frontier, posted at the Integrated Check Post (ICP) in Petrapole received intelligence inputs indicating an attempt to smuggle gold from Bangladesh into India and were maintaining a close watch on the movement.

“A BSF vehicle checking party intercepted an inbound empty truck entering India from Benapole, Bangladesh. A search of the vehicle led to the seizure of two green packets that contained eight gold pieces,” he said.

The official stated that the packets contained six gold bars and two biscuits, with a total weight of 1,974.540 grams of gold.

“The gold was valued at nearly Rs 2,45,79,073.90. During questioning, the driver of the vehicle confessed that he had agreed to transport the consignment across the border in his truck for money,” he said.

He further pointed out that the smuggler, along with his truck and the gold, has been handed over to the concerned authorities for further legal action.

The official said that the BSF continues its unwavering commitment to preventing cross-border crimes along the India-Bangladesh border.

“This operation once again underscores the alertness and operational excellence of BSF troops deployed at ICP Petrapole. We have strengthened our intelligence network, and there is complete coordination between all branches, hence the successes,” he added.

The official said that the BSF’s South Bengal Frontier has made a series of gold seizures over the last few weeks, adding that several smugglers have been apprehended and vital information gathered regarding the networks operating along the border.

“While applauding the effort of the troops, the official said that they remain committed to protecting the border and stopping all kinds of smuggling,” he said.

He urged residents of border areas once again to report any information regarding gold smuggling or other unlawful activities to the Seema Sathi Helpline Number 14419.

They can also send text or voice messages to the WhatsApp number 9903472227. Those providing credible information would be suitably rewarded and their identity would be kept confidential, he said.

New Delhi, Oct 28: The Supreme Court on Monday granted bail to a man convicted of killing his father, noting that he has already served nearly five years of his 10-year sentence awarded by the Chhattisgarh High Court.

A Bench of Justices Manoj Misra and Ujjal Bhuyan passed the order while hearing the petitioner’s special leave petition (SLP) challenging his conviction.

“Having regard to the facts of the case and the period of sentence already undergone, we deem it appropriate to suspend the sentence awarded by the High Court during the pendency of this appeal,” the apex court observed.

The case arose from an incident in which the appellant – Vijay Thakur– allegedly assaulted his father with a wooden stick, leading to his death. The trial court had convicted him under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and sentenced him to life imprisonment.

However, the Chhattisgarh High Court, in its judgment passed in April last year, modified the conviction to one under Section 304 Part-I IPC, reducing the sentence to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment.

Appearing for the petitioner, senior advocate Sonia Mathur argued that the accused had already served almost four years and eleven months of his sentence and sought suspension of the remaining period pending appeal.

“It is submitted that by now the appellant has already served almost 5 years (4 years 11 months) of the sentence. In such circumstances, it has been prayed that the sentence awarded to the appellant be suspended and the appellant be released on bail during the pendency of the appeal,” the order recorded.

Granting relief, the Justice Misra-led Bench directed that the appellant be released on bail “on such terms and conditions as the trial court may deem fit to impose in the facts and circumstances of the case.”

The apex court also noted that despite its earlier order, directing the lower courts to submit the case records, “as per the Office Report, records are still awaited.”

New Delhi, Oct 28: Delhi Police has given a virtual clean chit to a painter and two others accused by a woman of throwing acid on her in North Delhi’s Ashok Vihar last week, Special Commissioner of Police Ravindra Singh Yadav said on Tuesday.

Yadav expressed satisfaction over preventing injustice being meted out to the three “innocents” as the alleged attack has turned out to be an incident staged by the complainant woman and her family to settle scores with the “suspects”.

Yadav told IANS that technical analysis, CCTV footage and physical evidence proved that the three accused were not at the spot where the alleged “acid attack” took place on October 26 near Laxmi Bai College.

“It has turned out to be a case of old enmity related to a plot owned by the father of the woman who levelled false allegations of ‘acid attack’ on the accused,” he said.

The Special Commissioner of Police said the investigation is still underway but prima facie the conspiracy was hatched by the 20-year-old woman, her father, brother and uncle to try and implicate the three men in a false case of “acid attack”.

The two families have a history of litigation and criminal complaints against each other.

Investigators also revealed that the “acid attack” victim’s father Akil Khan, 45, now under custody, was accused of sexual harassment by the painter Jitender’s wife a few days before the October 26 staged episode of ‘acid attack’.

Yadav said the police are seeking legal opinion on the next step as the matter involves two separate issues.

“One, is the ‘acid attack’ and, the other, is the allegation of rape against the father of the ‘acid attack’ victim,” he said.

Yadav said, “For the time being, it is a matter of satisfaction for the police to have foiled the conspiracy by the woman’s family to implicate three innocent people.”

He said the police will now consider acting against the woman’s family for filing a false case.

Yadav said an investigation is still on to verify the woman’s statement that she and her family members had carried toilet cleaner from home to stage the ‘acid attack’ and subsequently report at a hospital with ‘acid attack burns’ on her hands.

The Special Commissioner of Police said they will soon share details of the alleged roles played by the family members of the woman in staging the ‘acid attack’ and attempting to implicate painter Jitender and his two aides, Ishan and Arman.

Yadav said in matters related to crimes against women the police promptly register a case on receiving a complaint and this is what happened in this matter. A case under Sections 124(1) and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita was registered as FIR No. 605/2025 on the woman’s complaint which named the three ‘suspects’.

However, investigations revealed that the allegation against the three “acid attackers” were false and they were physically not present on the spot where the incident was staged, the police said.