| Date: |
03-07-2015 |
| Subject: |
Sniffing the gold trail: A tale of black money & high import duty |
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PANAJI: The increase in the number of incidents in gold smuggling has been attributed to a hike in import duty and other factors, but customs officials are not ruling out the possibility of non-resident Indians (NRIs) routing black money back into the country after a probe into deposits by Indians in foreign banks.
During the last six months, there has been an increase in the number of gold smuggling cases reported in Goa at the international airport at Dabolim. This month itself, customs has seized over 30kg gold worth 7.16 crore.
Speaking to TOI, K Anpazhakan, commissioner of customs, Goa, said, "There is suspicion because of the black money trail in India. People are starting to withdraw their money from bank accounts to convert it into gold and send it back home."
He also said that people have been trying to get the gold illegally to India so that black money can be converted into white and even if the gold is caught at the airport then it does not make any difference to them. "If they are not caught, then their black money is converted into white in the form of gold. It is surprising to see that people are carrying gold casually, in their laptop bags, duty-free shopping bags and in suitcases," he said.
During investigation of these cases, customs officials found that the people arrested are just a carriers who are working for their bosses for a round-trip to Dubai and some perks. Anpazhakan said that they are trying to find out how these carriers are selected as crores of rupees of gold is handed over to them only on the basis of trust.
Gold carriers have been getting money between 10,000 to 15,000, a Dubai city tour, hotel stay and food for smuggling gold into India. Anpazhakan said that most of the carriers are not aware of what they are pushed into and most of them come from poor backgrounds.
He also feels that increase in on gold import duty one year ago has encouraged smuggling of gold. On abandoned gold in aircraft, Anpazhakan said, "Customs suspects that there may be some arrangement with cleaning staff. They could be collecting the abandoned gold while they clean the aircraft, and take it out of the airport in cleaning bags."
Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com
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