SUBHASH MISHRA
Dhanbad, Jan 16: The Railway Protection Force (RPF) seized gold and silver jewellery worth ₹42.47 lakh at Dhanbad Railway Station and arrested one person in connection with the recovery, officials said on Friday.
RPF Inspector Ajay Prakash said the arrested individual was identified as Neeraj Kumar Sharma (34), a resident of Jharia. He was travelling by the Ganga Damodar Express to Patna with the jewellery packed in a black pithoo bag.
Search conducted on suspicion
Acting on suspicion, a Special Task Force of the RPF searched Sharma’s bag at Platform No. 3 around 11.13 pm on Thursday night. During the search, the team recovered a large quantity of gold and silver ornaments, following which he was taken into custody.
According to the RPF, the seizure included gold jewellery worth approximately ₹29.58 lakh and silver jewellery valued at around ₹12.89 lakh, taking the total estimated value of the recovered ornaments to ₹42.47 lakh.
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No valid documents produced
During interrogation, the accused told the RPF that he was carrying the jewellery for delivery to various jewellery shops in Bihar, including Aaryan Jewellery Shop (Patna), Radhika Jewellery Shop (Bakhtiyarpur), Maa Mansa Jewellery Shop, and Sree Jewellers (Barh). However, he failed to produce any valid documents or legal papers related to the ownership or transportation of the jewellery.
Items handed over to tax authorities
The RPF later handed over the seized jewellery to the Commercial Tax Department, Investigation Wing, under the Assistant Commissioner (Investigation), Dhanbad Division, for further action.
RPF team involved
The operation was carried out by a Special Task Force comprising SI A.C. Singh, ASI Jiblal Ram, Babulesh Kumar, Vivek Kumar, Sushil Kumar, Vikash Kumar, and Fulchand Mahto.
