Ahmedabad: Smugglers filled sanitary pad, underwear with gold

City crime branch have peeled off the layers of a sophisticated gold smuggling ring and arrested two men, a jeweller and a man who allegedly smuggled the precious metal into the country in the form of underwear and a sanitary pad imbued with the precious metal.

According to police, Jignesh Rathod wore a vest and underpants that were impregnated with gold and managed to deceive customs officials at the Mumbai international airport, while his wife Sheila wore a sanitary napkin that was similarly imbued with gold. The gold was chemically treated to make this possible.

City crime branch arrested Rathod, 30, and a 52-year-old jeweller, Ketan Soni, from the Nansha Jivan Ni Pol area of the walled city.

Soni allegedly helped Rathod to turn the contraband back into metallic gold and sell part of it.

Police say they recovered 546.22g of gold valued at Rs 32.77 lakh and Rs 45 lakh in cash from the duo.

Investigators said Rathod told them that he and his wife were sent to Dubai on a sponsored four-day trip by a jeweller named Jayesh Soni.

They were put up at the Nile Hotel Dubai, where one Chetan Chaudhary handed them the heavy vest, underpants and sanitary pad.

They left Dubai on June 19 and landed at the Mumbai airport, where they easily passed immigration and customs checks. They then travelled to Ahmedabad by train and bus.

Rathod purportedly then told Jayesh Soni that the vest, underpants and sanitary pad had been stolen and met up with Ketan Soni, a friend who was also a jeweller, and he extracted the gold from the articles.

The duo sold part of the extracted gold for Rs 45 lakh, and the remaining 546g was kept with Ketan.

Crime branch officers said the customs department has been informed about the alleged gold smuggling. Investigators are trying to find the buyer of the gold and Jayesh Soni.

Police are ascertaining whether the couple had smuggled gold earlier as well.