Ramanathapuram: Police have denied various reports emerging amid suspicions over whether the gold worth more than Rs. 5 crore seized in Ramanathapuram is linked to smuggling and whether a large quantity of jewelry has been hidden by the police.
On the night of Sept. 18, the Ramanathapuram anti-narcotics special team police caught five people in Pattinamkathan. From the bag they were carrying, they seized 38 gold bars weighing 3.800 kg worth Rs. 5 crore, 226.8 grams of jewelry, and Rs. 12.20 lakh.
In the investigation conducted by the Keenikkarai police, it was found that they were Ramanathapuram Kuppusamy, Paramakudi Selvaraj, Saravanan from Thoothukudi known as Balukutti, Bhoopathi known as Marimuthu, and Velayudham.
The police said that when they came near the MGR Nagar garbage dump area, they claimed that the unattended bag there contained gold bars, jewelry, and cash. After questioning them, the police registered a case stating that the jewelry had indeed been left unattended and released all five of them. The police did not provide information about this incident to the media. This raised suspicion that the case had been fabricated.
Rumors spread that 25 kilograms of gold had been seized, that it had been found in the Thamirabarani River, and that the police had hidden most of the gold. In addition, many claims circulated on social media that it had been caught while being smuggled in, and that when the smugglers tried to use other people to seize the gold, they were caught by the police.
The fact that the police, who hold press briefings even when a few sovereigns of gold are seized, had not issued any announcement for five days about the seizure of gold worth Rs. 5 crore also sparked controversy. The Customs Department too did not release any information.
Meanwhile, in a statement issued yesterday by the Ramanathapuram district police, the gold and cash worth Rs. 5 crore that were seized have been deposited in the treasury as per a court order. Details have been sent to the Customs Department and the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence to investigate whether it is smuggled gold. As the investigation continues, it has been requested not to share or publish false information.