Around 18 kg of gold worth over Rs 10.5 crore that had been dumped in the sea off Mandapam in Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu, was found, according to the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) and Indian Coast Guard, who made the announcement on Thursday. Smuggling was taking place with the shipment out of Sri Lanka.
Based on a tip that a significant amount of gold is anticipated to be smuggled in a boat through Mandapam by sea, DRI officials informed a Coast Guard team. Sources claim that when the authorities stopped the boat, they found that its crew had thrown something into the water.
After being taken to Ramanathuparam, three of the boat’s crew members were questioned, and scuba divers from Thoothukudi were brought in to retrieve the items that had been dumped into the water.
A bag of gold was found on Thursday after searches by five scuba divers who were hired to identify the items began on Wednesday. Later, the DRI officials found that the bag had 17.74 kg of gold in it.
‘The team maintained surveillance in Gulf of Mannar for two days for any suspicious activity. On the night of Feb 8, the IB boarded a suspicious boat which was trying to escape at high speed to evade interception. On rummaging the boat, suspected contraband was not found and it was suspected that the same was thrown overboard during interception,’ a Defence release said.
Three crew members and the fishing boat have been given to Coastal Security Group for additional investigation.
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