175 kg gold bars worth Rs 56 crore seized in Chennai

CHENNAI: A state police team on Tuesday night seized 175kg of gold bars worth ₹56 crore from a van during a vehicle check on Chennai’s outskirts. The van was part of a three-vehicle convoy. While the seven men in the vehicles said they were transporting the gold to a state government office in T Nagar and produced documents as proof, police said they had seized the consignment as they were not sure of its authenticity.

According to police, around midnight, a special team stationed at the Arambakkam checkpost on the TN-Andhra Pradesh border stopped the vehicles coming towards Chennai from the neighbouring state as part of the nationwide effort to curb illegal cash flow during polls. A check found seven boxes, each weighing about one kg, containing 25 gold bars in the van that was sandwiched between two vehicles. There were four men, including two armed guards, in the van that had two CCTV cameras.

Though they produced some papers, police sent the cargo to the Gummidipondi tahsildar’s office.

‘Men said firm approved by RBI to import gold’

Chennai: “The men claimed they were employees of a private firm authorized by the Reserve Bank of India to import gold,” said an officer from the Gummidipondi police station.

They said the firm had been authorized to disperse the imported gold to various government departments across the country.

“In this case, they said they were asked to transport it from the firm’s godown at Sri City, Andhra Pradesh, to a government office in T Nagar, Chennai,” the officer added.

A team from the income tax department arrived at the spot.

The officials informed the men in the vehicle that the seized gold would be returned after a detailed probe was completed, said Parvathi, election officer for Gummidipondi.

Since the dates for the Lok Sabha elections were announced on March 10, check-points have been set up across the country and crores of rupees in cash and valuables seized by police, revenue officials and flying squads of the Election Commission of India.

In Tamil Nadu, which is set to go to the polls on April 18, checking has been intensified, particularly in and around Chennai where illegal cash flow has been rampant, according to reports.