Surat: Further investigation into the Surat gold smuggling case revealed that the main accused Maulavi Abdul Bemat used African SIM cards to communicate with carriers who smuggled gold in the last seven months. Maulvi never met the carriers at the airport. Instead, they delivered the gold to a secret location.

During interrogation, Maulavi admitted using OTPs from South Africa based African SIM cards for Whatsapp activation and avoid detection of Indian agencies. He contacted the carriers via WhatsApp using these African registered sim card numbers and arranged gold deliveries outside the airport. The carriers brought gold paste hidden in travel bags and delivered it to Surat.

The Special Operations Group of Surat Police had apprehended four individuals on 8th July at Surat Airport for smuggling 927 grams of gold from Dubai. Maulavi Abdul was identified as the main culprit among the four arrested. His cousin Shaukat, based in Dubai, assisted him. Maulavi made eight trips himself, while his associate Shahzad from Johannesburg helped with logistics. The gang smuggled about 10 kg of gold in 30 trips and sold it to Faisal in Vadodara.

The gang smuggled crores of rupees worth of gold in the last eight months, making 15 trips from Surat and 7 from Ahmedabad. Maulvi and Faisal from Vadodara paid the carriers 4,000 to 5,000 dollars each.

The police investigation also revealed two more partners. Akib from Rander area of Surat and Shehzbaz’s father, Manjh Randera, were involved in the smuggling operation. The gang first met in Aurangabad and then went to Dubai to plan the entire operation. They used a new technique of layering gold paste in travel bags. DeshGujarat