Acting on a tip-off, troops of the 61st battalion of the BSF posted at the Hili border outpost recovered gold worth over ₹16 lakhs from an Indian national on Saturday.

Sources said Sujan Mondal, a resident of Haripokhar, a village located beyond the fences at the India-Bangladesh border in South Dinajpur, was intercepted while he was crossing the gate at the fence to enter the mainland. On searching, BSF personnel found him clandestinely carrying two gold bars.

According to BSF sources, the bars weigh a total of 233.320 grams, valued at around ₹16.49 lakhs. He was later handed over to the preventive unit of Customs at Hili.

Bangladeshis nabbed

Shyam Sarkar, a 23-year-old from the Manikganj district of Bangladesh, was intercepted by the BSF on Saturday while he was moving suspiciously on a motorcycle and trying to cross the India-Bangladesh border through an unfenced area of the Dahagram-Angarpota enclave.

Bishal Roy, one of Shyam’s relatives who stays in Jateswar under Falakata police station of Alipurduar and is suspected to be a tout, was also nabbed with him.

Some Indian and Bangladeshi currencies were recovered from them. Both have been handed over to the Kuchlibari police station.