Smuggled gold worth Rs. 8 Crore seized

In a major anti-smuggling operation, police seized six kg of gold bars worth about Rs. 8 crore that were illegally brought from Sri Lanka and arrested one person near the Vedaranyam coastal area in Nagapattinam district.
Based on specific intelligence inputs that gold was being smuggled by boat from Sri Lanka to the Vedaranyam coast, Q Branch police intensified surveillance along the coastal belt.
The operation was led by Q Branch Inspector Rajesh, with special teams deployed in sensitive locations.
During the vigil, police noticed a suspicious person travelling on a two-wheeler from the Arukattuthurai coastal area. He was intercepted on the Vedaranyam–Nagapattinam main road near Vedamavathi. On inspection, police found six kg of gold bars in his possession.
The gold bars and the two-wheeler were seized and later handed over to the Superintendent of Customs at Thopputhurai for further investigation. Subsequent inquiry revealed that the accused was Sivakumar, aged 42, a resident of the Nellikkadai Mariamman Temple area in Nagapattinam town, and that the gold had been smuggled from Sri Lanka.
The Customs Department registered a case and arrested Sivakumar. Officials also stated that investigations revealed his involvement in a similar gold smuggling case reported in Ramanathapuram district in 2017. Further investigation is under way to identify other members of the smuggling network.