Two Bangladeshi nationals, who had come to Kolkata last Sunday and were staying in a hotel at Mukundapur, were arrested from the India-Bangladesh border on Wednesday while allegedly trying to smuggle foreign currencies worth Rs 81.92 lakh hidden in a mixer grinder.
The arrested men have reportedly told the Border Security Forces (BSF) that a man in Kolkata handed over the consignment to them.
BSF officials said the directorate of revenue intelligence has taken over the probe.
The arrested men were identified as Datta Shankar Kumar and Walid Mehedi Rashal. Australian dollars, New Zealand dollars, UAE Dirham, Saudi Riyal and Bangladeshi Taka worth Rs 81.92 lakh were found in their possession.
On being asked, the men allegedly could not explain the source of the foreign currencies and revealed the name of another Bangladeshi national who handed over this consignment to them.
“They stayed at a guest house in Mukundapur and met one Subal Chandra Shil, a Bangladeshi national. He gave them a mixer grinder and said that if they delivered this mixer grinder to Bangladesh, they would get Rs 10,000 each. On receiving the consignment, they started for Bangladesh on Maitree Express. But they were apprehended by the BSF at Gede railway station on Wednesday,” said a BSF official.
Sources said an investigation has been launched to probe the racket of smuggling foreign currencies from Kolkata.
