Troops of the 61 battalion of the Border Security Force (BSF) at the India-Bangladesh border in South Dinajpur district acted on a tip-off and intercepted a person with gold worth over Rs 61 lakh from him on Wednesday.

Sources said Abdul Barik Mondal, a resident of Haripokhar village under Hilli police station of the district, was intercepted by a team of BSF personnel. When they frisked his motorcycle, they found 10 gold ingots hidden in it.

“The gold was smuggled into India from Bangladesh and this person was supposed to send it to some other smugglers across the country.

The cost of the seized gold is Rs 61.76 lakhs,” BSF sources said.

Mondal, they said, has been handed over to the Customs along with the seized gold.

The BSF also conducted raids in various locations of the north Bengal frontier on Wednesday night and seized a number of contraband items including cannabis, cough syrup bottles and cattle from near the India-Bangladesh border. The cost of the seized items is Rs 3.68 lakh, sources said.

Pangolin rescued

Foresters of Belakoba range of Baikunthapur forest division arrested two persons from Kalimpong in a car and rescued a pangolin from them at Naukaghat area of Siliguri on Thursday.

A forest official said the accused B.B. Chhetri and S.R. Rasaily planned to smuggle a pangolin to Nepal. It is being suspected that they got the pangolin from Sikkim.

The pangolin rescued from a car at Naukaghat, Siliguri, on Thursday. Passang Yolmo

The pangolin, an endangered species, is in high demand for its meat and scales in Nepal, China and some other countries.

In another raid, foresters arrested Santosh Roy of Bihar with a deer horn from Kharibari, also located in Siliguri sub-division.

Roy too, had plans to smuggle it to Nepal, said foresters.