TAMIL NADO: Indian Customs and Q Branch police have seized 2.30 kg bootlegged gold and nabbed two smugglers in the joint operation here the other day.
Culprits had received the gold bars from a Sri Lankan-based smuggler during the second week of December and kept them in their huts in Dhanushkodi, a Customs official told Customs Today.
Acting on a tip-off, Ramanathapuram and Rameswaram Customs officials and Q Branch police seized nine unmarked gold bars in different sizes from the two Denison (38) and Murugavel (26) here the other day.
Sources in Customs and Q Branch police said the two, who had received the consignment on the high seas from a Sri Lankan contact between December 13 and 15, did not hand it over to a local receiver following a dispute with him over payment for smuggling it.
The two fishermen demanded Indian Rs 5 lakh to hand it over to the local receiver, The Hindu report said.
As they could not get the payment, they shared the gold bars between them and buried them in their huts on Dhanushkodi seashore, the sources said.
