Biggest haul: ITBP seized 108 kg of gold biscuits on Ladakh-Tibet border
In a post on ‘X’, the ITBP said that a team of the 21st battalion of the force led by Deputy Commandant Deepak Bhatt conducted a long-range patrol in eastern Ladakh on July 9 during which it seized 108 gold biscuits from two persons near Sirigaple.
Besides the huge quantity of smuggled gold, the seizure also included two mobile phones, a binocular, two knives and several Chinese food items like cakes and milk, an ITBP official while briefing reporters in Leh said.
He added that the seized gold biscuits will be handed over to the customs department whereas the ITBP and other security agencies including Ladakh police are questioning the smugglers identified as Tsering Chamba (40) and Stanzin Dorgyal (69), both residents of Ladakh’s Nyoma area, and another person who was detained in connection with the recovery later.
The ITBP official further stated that the force team had launched the long-range patrolling on Tuesday in the Changthang sub-sector in eastern Ladakh, including Chizbule, Narbula, Zangle and Zakla to check infiltration of smugglers as the smuggling activities are heightened around the summer season. It was around 1.30 pm that two persons were seen moving in suspicious manner on mules in the Sirigaple area, one kilometre short of the Line of Actual Control, he said, adding “On seeing the patrolling party they tried to flee towards the LAC but were arrested after a chase.”
The officer said that the duo initially claimed that they were working as medicinal plant dealers, but the search of their belongings led to the recovery of the gold biscuits and other items. “It is because of the vigil and alertness of the ITBP jawans that we have been able to recover the largest haul of gold,” the officer said.