ED Attaches 37 kg Gold Worth Rs 54 Crore in Assam Smuggling Probe

The Enforcement Directorate has provisionally attached 37.064 kg of gold, valued at more than Rs 54 crore, as part of a money laundering investigation into an alleged gold smuggling network. The action was taken by the agency's Guwahati Zonal Office under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, in a case registered against Akshay Parshuram Bansode and other unidentified persons.

The attached consignment consists of 29 large gold bars and 50 smaller pieces, along with roughly 13 grams of silver-coloured metal flakes recovered with the gold. The bullion was originally seized by Assam Police on June 30 from Bansode's possession at Kharghuli Hatisil in Guwahati, and is presently held in the Kamrup Metro Treasury.

The ED's investigation followed a case registered at Latasil Police Station in Kamrup Metro district, which concerns the alleged organised illegal transportation and concealment of smuggled gold and criminal conspiracy.

According to the agency, its probe indicates that Bansode transported gold across various parts of the country over several years on the instructions of an unidentified person who ran a syndicate of couriers. The network is said to have used a coded identification system to coordinate courier movements, with Bansode allegedly paid a fixed monthly remuneration.

The investigation further indicates that the gold was smuggled into India through Myanmar and the UAE, with payments linked to the transactions allegedly routed through hawala channels. The agency is also examining attempts to introduce the smuggled gold into the formal bullion market, including invoices generated by certain traders linked to a bullion refining company that were allegedly used to give the metal a legitimate appearance.

A separate ownership claim over the seized gold was also examined. The claimant sought to establish title through invoices presented as sale documents, but the jurisdictional court found them prima facie fabricated and rejected the release application.

The probe found that neither Bansode nor the claimant could produce documents establishing lawful acquisition, including customs clearance certificates, import documents or other records showing the gold had been legally brought into the country. The investigation is continuing to map the wider network involved in the alleged smuggling, transportation and attempted entry of the gold into the formal bullion trade.