A man from Rajasthan, Muniyad Ali Khan, who was wanted in a gold smuggling case was arrested by India’s National Investigation Agency (NIA) upon his return to India from Saudi Arabia. He was part of a large gang that smuggled gold biscuits and bars into India, concealing the precious metal in battery compartments of emergency lights, and loading the packed goods as checked-in baggage.

The NIA confirmed that Khan has been extradited from the UAE now and “returned” to India for further legal action to be taken against him.

Earlier, in March 2021, the NIA had filed a chargesheet against Khan and his accomplices, following a case of gold smuggling in July 2020 when customs officials in India seized 18.5kg of gold at Jaipur International Airport and arrested 10 persons who had flown in from Riyadh.

Khan had a standing warrant of arrest issued on him. He had been evading the police ever since. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has said that the Global Operations Centre of the CBI had “closely coordinated with NIA and Interpol National Central Bureau Abu Dhabi” for the return of Khan to India from the UAE. Khan, “a key operator in an international gold smuggling network”, as described by the CBI, was taken into custody by a team from NIA upon his arrival at Jaipur International Airport. – editor@nrifocus.com