Guwahati, June 30: Nearly 37 kg of 24-carat gold worth around ₹55 crore has been recovered from Guwahati’s Kharghuli area in one of Assam’s biggest gold seizures in recent years, exposing a suspected international smuggling syndicate with alleged links to Middle Eastern countries. Police have arrested one person from Maharashtra in connection with the case.

Acting on specific intelligence about the movement of smuggled gold, a team from Latasil Police Station launched a late-night operation on Monday and intercepted Akshay Bansure (32), a resident of Sangli district in Maharashtra. The accused was allegedly carrying two bags containing the gold bars when he was apprehended in the Kharghuli area.

Addressing the media, Guwahati Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central) Sambhabi Mishra described the recovery as one of the biggest achievements of Guwahati Police. She said officers had initially received intelligence about the illegal consignment but lacked conclusive evidence. Fresh credible inputs later prompted the operation, leading to the seizure and arrest.

Police recovered 36.826 kg of 24-carat gold, including 42 one-kilogram bars, gold pieces weighing 10 grams each, and an additional 50 grams of gold. Officers also seized four mobile phones—two iPhones and two Android handsets—along with silver pieces and other materials from the accused.

Preliminary investigations suggest Bansure was allegedly working for a larger cross-border gold smuggling syndicate with possible links to the Middle East and major Indian cities, including Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Bengaluru.

During interrogation, Bansure reportedly told investigators that he had been living in Guwahati for the past two months after being recruited to ferry smuggled gold. He allegedly disclosed that he was paid ₹80,000 a month and had successfully transported 15 to 20 kg of gold in three earlier consignments. The seized consignment was reportedly his fourth assignment before his arrest.

Investigators are now analysing data recovered from the seized mobile phones and tracing the money trail to identify other members of the alleged syndicate, establish the source and destination of the gold, and determine whether Guwahati was being used as a transit hub in an international smuggling network.

The investigation is continuing.