Accused brought back from Saudi Arabia wanted in gold smuggling case, says NIA

New Delhi : The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Thursday said that an accused, who was brought back from Saudi Arabia with the help of Interpol and the CBI, was wanted in 9 crore gold smuggling case.

The accused identified as Mohabbat Ali was one of the most wanted accused and a Red Corner Notice (RCN) and a Look Out Circular (LOC) had been issued, in the case relating to seizure of 18.56 kgs of gold bars at the Jaipur International Airport.

“The gold bars, valuing over Rs 9 crore in the market, were seized while being smuggled from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in 2020, as part of a criminal conspiracy to smuggle gold into India to derail the country’s economic security and monetary stability,” NIA said.

NIA said that the gold bars, whose precise market value was rated at Rs. 92,382,724, had been concealed in a battery of emergency lights for smuggling into India by the accused, Mohabbat Ali, Subhash, Md Maqbool Sheikh, Chuna Ram and Amjad Ali.

 Mohabbat Ali, a resident of Rajasthan, had been absconding since September 2020 and NIA had filed a chargesheet against him on March 22, 2021 under sections 120B of IPC and sections 16, 18, and 20 of UA(P)Act.

 The NIA had declared Ali as ‘most wanted’ with a reward of Rs. 2 lakh on him. Ali was declared a Proclaimed Offender (PO) on March 17, 2021 by the NIA Special Court and Non-Bailable WWarrant (NBW) was also issued against him.

Further, an LOC was opened in 2021 and a RCN was issued against him on 13th September 2021.

The NIA investigations have revealed that the accused had provided the gold bars to the carriers, Subhash and Maqbool Sheikh, to be smuggled from Riyadh to Jaipur.