Guwahati police seized 37 kg of gold from a man from Maharashtra
Guwahati Police recovered approximately 37 kg of suspected smuggled gold during an operation on June 29 in Kharghuli area of Guwahati on June 30, 2026. A man from Maharashtra was arrested in connection with the case. | Photo credit: ANI
In what officials say is the largest such seizure ever in Assam, the state police on Monday evening (June 29, 2026) seized 37.064 kg of suspected smuggled gold worth ₹ 54 crore from a disabled man from Maharashtra in Guwahati.
Police also recovered 13 grams of silver knots, four mobile phones and ₹3,755 in cash from 32-year-old Akshay Bansode, arrested in connection with the case. A native of Sangli, Maharashtra, he stayed in the Gandhibasti area of Guwahati for two months.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central) Shambhavi Mishra said her team followed intelligence inputs that did not specify whether the gold was genuine or fake.
“We targeted the accused and recovered the gold bars,” she said, adding that Mr. Bansode could not produce any legal documents for the shipment.
According to the police, investigations have revealed international links to smuggle gold to Myanmar and West Asia, and domestically to Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Bengaluru. “We are still probing further connections to uncover the entire syndicate, past deliveries and financial traces,” Ms Mishra said.
She further stated that the accused was working as a delivery boy for a salary of ₹80,000 per month.
“He looked like any other person when we nabbed him, but we found that he was involved in smuggling about 20 kg of gold on three previous occasions. This was his fourth attempt,” Ms Mishra said.
Much of the smuggled gold in Assam and other parts of the Northeast comes from Myanmar. The gold, which is mainly smuggled through Moreh in Manipur and Zokhawthar in Mizoram, is routed to West Asia through the Indian Metro.
Returned foreign currency
Officials at the Lokapriya Gopinath Bardoloi International Airport in Guwahati on Tuesday returned an unattended bag containing Rs 10.14 lakh in foreign currency to the representative of the passenger to whom it belonged.
On June 26, Central Industrial Security Corps personnel discovered the bag in the automated tray detection system during a routine security check at the airport’s Terminal 1. Inside the bag were some medicines, personal belongings and foreign currency.
“The US dollars in the bag came to ₹ 10.13 lakh at current prices. The remaining cash was in Chinese yuan,” said a spokesperson for Adani Airport Holdings Limited, which operates the airport.
“The name written on the bag and on the medical strips helped identify the passenger who by then had already boarded the flight to Hyderabad,” she said.
Officials of customs, income tax and other agencies found that the cash had been accounted for. After completing the formalities, the passenger was traced and the bag was returned after verification of ownership.
Published – 30 Jun 2026 23:17 IST