Nampally court denies bail in High-profile Gold smuggling case of DRI
Hyderabad: The local court denied bail for three gold smugglers arrested by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) in Hyderabad. The court, citing the gravity of the offense and potential impact on the country's financial condition, dismissed the bail petition.
Going further into details, on 27 September 2024, Hyderabad unit of Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) busted a major gold smuggling operation, seizing foreign-origin gold worth over Rs. 3.71 crores and arresting three individuals.
Acting on specific intelligence, DRI officers set up surveillance at Raikal toll plaza on the outskirts of Hyderabad. At around 6:00 PM, DRI officers intercepted a suspicious vehicle, a Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza carrying three passengers- Sriram Ravindher, Sreenivas Pandigiri, and Prem Bapurav Pawar. Upon questioning, Ravindher admitted to carrying smuggled foreign gold. The officers and independent witnesses escorted the suspects and the vehicle to the DRI office in Hyderabad for inspection. They discovered a specially made cavity below the handbrake. Then one of them opened the secret cavity by pulling a latch beneath the steering wheel.
“The search yielded four packets containing foreign origin gold, wrapped in brown tape/paper containing total 18 numbers of 24Kt gold bars/cut pieces of 99.9% purity, weighing 4778 grams, valued at Rs.3,71,25,060 were recovered,” said DRI at the time of arrest.
During interrogation, the accused revealed they were transporting smuggled gold from Coimbatore to Hyderabad on instructions of Shri Pramod Bhosle from Metpally, Jagityal. They also disclosed carrying cash in the same secret compartment to purchase the gold.
Investigations revealed that Pramod Bhosle bought the vehicle and re-registered it in Puducherry to avoid detection and mask its origins. The arrested accused were sent to judicial custody and legal proceedings have been initiated against them under the Customs Act, 1962. The petitioners argued they are innocent, haven’t committed any offence, and a false case has been foisted on them. They argued the panchnama is conducted at the DRI office, not at the scene of offence, and is not maintainable and planted for this case. There are no reasonable grounds to believe the petitioners for the offence.
Court cites Financial impact, gravity of offences denies bail
The public prosecutor contended that, “As it was not safe and convenient to continue proceedings at the toll plaza, the officers along with the accused, independent witnesses and the car proceeded to the office premises of DRI, Hyderabad”.
He argued that the petitioners were in the car from which the authorities seized the gold and knew the exact location of the cavities and the hidden gold, as noted in the Panchanama dated 27,September, 2024 before independent witnesses. All the petitioners have categorically admitted they were knowingly transporting foreign origin smuggled gold.
“If released, they could influence witnesses, key persons in the gold smuggling, and tamper/destroy evidence. They may enable end beneficiaries to evade the law. They may try to evade summons and enquiry, give false evidence during judicial proceedings, which may ultimately adversely affect the investigation” said the public prosecutor. Hence, the prayer to dismiss the bail petition.
After hearing both sides, the court observed that “the gold involved is worth over Rs. 3 crores and it is not a small amount. All the offences are economic and affect the financial condition of this Country.”
Denying the bail, the court noted, “It is at initial stage, whatever the contradictions or variances in case record, it cannot be decided at this stage. By looking into the facts and circumstances of the case and the involvement of a huge quantity of gold, this Court feels a wide opportunity should be given to the prosecution for investigating the matter. The prosecution submits due to a short period they could not properly investigate the matter. Therefore, the Court dismissed the bail petition.”