A 50 gram standard gold bar is displayed at the National Indian Bullion Refinery (NIBR)'s gold and silver refinery in Mumbai on November 6, 2009. The price of gold surged to a record peak of 1,095.80 dollars an ounce at the world market in trading earlier this week in the wake of the International Monetary Fund's massive sale of the precious metal to India. The IMF announced November 3 it sold 200 tonnes of gold to India's central bank over a two-week period in October for a total of 6.7 billion dollars to bolster its finances as it increases lending amid the global economic crisis. India is the world's biggest consumer of gold, importing between 700 and 800 tonnes of the metal every year or 20 percent of global demand. AFP PHOTO/ Indranil MUKHERJEE |
Colombo: Six Indians have been arrested for allegedly attempting to smuggle gold worth Rs 30 lakhs to India, authorities said on Sunday. Quoting Customs Spokesman Deputy Director, Sunil Jayaratne, the Daily Mirror reported that the suspects, aged between 36 and 53, were arrested at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) here and had concealed gold biscuits in their luggage, pockets of the trousers they were wearing and inside their rectum.
"All the accused are aged between 36 and 53. They were trying to smuggle gold biscuits to Chennai and now have been arrested," Jayaratne was quoted as saying. Authorities said further investigations is being conducted by the airport customs.
