Mumbai: During the financial year 2023-24, DRI seized 1,319kg gold across the country in multiple cases, with the land route contributing 55% of the seizures and the air route around 36%. According to DRI data, smuggling syndicates have increasingly employed carriers to transport smaller quantities of gold, reducing potential losses in case of interception.

“Gold smuggling in India has evolved with smuggling syndicates now employing ‘mules’ with diverse profiles, including foreign nationals and families, alongside insiders. Smuggling syndicates even leverage international departure gates, where airport workers and other staff collude in smuggling gold from transit passengers. Air routes into India also remain a prominent method smugglers use, with Middle East and Southeast Asian countries traditionally being the major points of origin. Recently, airports in certain African and Central Asian countries have also emerged as key locations for smuggling operations,” the DRI stated in its report.

“India has become a major destination for illicit gold imports, with gold and silver predominantly originating from Gulf states such as the UAE and Saudi Arabia, where these metals are sourced and available at lower prices. Smuggling through India’s porous eastern borders, particularly with Bangladesh and Myanmar, has also emerged as a major concern for law enforcement agencies. Gold is smuggled into India through two primary methods: commercial smuggling, where export and import schemes are exploited to evade duties, and outright smuggling, where gold is concealed to avoid detection. Smuggling networks are highly organised, and the use of complex routes and well-coordinated operations makes gold smuggling into India a persistent challenge for enforcement agencies,” the report stated.

“Smugglers frequently use passengers to conceal gold innovatively, including hiding it in their clothing, luggage, or even within their bodies, to evade customs detection. Gold in bar and solid form remains a prevalent method of smuggling into India. Smuggling gold in paste form continues to be a significant challenge. Smugglers melt pure gold, adulterate it with impurities, transform it into a solution, dry it, and then convert it into a paste. This paste form is easier to smuggle, often disguised as harmless substances or hidden within legitimate goods,” the report stated.

Mumbai: The Central Region Cyber Police Station has arrested three individuals from Thane District for allegedly defrauding a 73-year-old man of ₹3.81 crore under the pretext of offering high returns on stock market investments. The arrested individuals have been identified as Satish Suryanath Yadav (27), Vikas Ramshankar Maurya (27), and Sachin Krishnanand Chaurasia (23).

According to police, upon receiving the victim’s complaint, the cyber helpline team (1930), with support from the bank, managed to freeze ₹15.29 lakh from the fraudulent transactions. Officer Mausami Patil from the Central Cyber Police Station revealed that Satish Yadav had established a shell company named Shield Associates, where the stolen funds were deposited. Yadav opened the account with help from his accomplice, Vikas Maurya, who rented these accounts to cyber fraudsters for commissions. The third accused, Chaurasia, provided the SIM card used to create the fraudulent bank account.

Police stated that the scammers lured the victim into investing in the stock market with promises of exorbitant profits. Trusting their false assurances, the victim transferred ₹3.81 crore to their accounts. When the promised returns stopped and he attempted to withdraw the principal amount, the victim realized he had been scammed and filed a complaint.

During the investigation, cyber police traced the fraudulent transactions to a specific bank account. This led to the arrest of the accused individuals responsible for facilitating the scam. Police also disclosed that the main accused, Rahul Ladhi, passed away seven months ago.

The case remains under investigation as authorities work to uncover additional details and recover the remaining stolen funds. Cyber police have urged the public to remain cautious of investment scams and report suspicious activities to the cyber helpline.

Mumbai: The DN nagar police arrested two man including a 53-year-old man for allegedly sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl in the Andheri area. The accused, who was known to the victim, reportedly gained her trust before introducing her to another man. He then made a video of the two and used it to blackmail the girl, threatening to show it to her parents and defame her.

The victim girl lives in Andheri area and is currently studying. The accused lives in the same area and both of them are known to each other. In the second week of November, he tried to gain her trust by getting close to her. He then introduced her to a young man. He had induced her to befriend him.

While chatting with young man, he made a video of both of them on his mobile phone. He started blackmailing her by threatening to show the video to her parents and defame her. So this girl was very scared. Taking advantage of this opportunity, he brought her home and sexually assaulted her from November 8 to November 28, 2024.

As they both lived in the same locality, he had asked a young man to keep watch outside his house in case anyone came. Every time the girl was sexually assaulted by the accused, he stayed there as a watch. She recently told this to her parents. They were shocked to hear this ordeal.

Then the victim’s parents approached DN Nagar police and filed a complaint against the accused along with the youth. After this complaint, the police registered a case against both the accused. As soon as the case was registered, both the accused were arrested by the police. After his arrest, he was produced in a special POCSO court. This time the court has remanded both of them to police custody.