Punjab Police recover 70 kg gold from car

RAJPURA - Nearly 70 kg of gold was recovered from a car intercepted by the Punjab Police at a checkpost in Rajpura town, officials said, adding that four people had been detained.

Officials said that they intercepted a bullet-proof Sumo car at a police check-post here and while searching the vehicle, police found three pieces of gold. The gold was in the form of bricks, weighing around 70 kg.

“There were two security guards carrying rifles, one driver and one caretaker of the gold. They were bringing this gold from Delhi. During questioning, they said that they were taking the gold to Kathua town in Jammu and Kashmir. They said that they had delivered 70 kg gold twice at Kathua earlier also,” Deputy Superintendent of Police (Rajpura) Manmohan Sharma told IANS.

“Although the occupants of the car had shown us the bills but they were very inconsistent in their statements. Therefore we detained them and started our investigation. We have also sent a special team to Kathua to verify where they were supplying such a huge quantity of gold,” Sharma said.

According to the bills, the gold had come from Ghana and it had reached India via UAE, the officer added.

The gold has been seized by the excise department here till the probe is completed.

Rajpura town, which falls in Patiala district, is around 45 km from state capital Chandigarh.