ED ATTACHED GOLD WEIGHING 37.064 KG, COMPRISING 29 BIG-SIZED GOLD BARS AND 50 SMALL-SIZED GOLD PIECES,

Face2News/ Guwahati

Directorate of Enforcement (ED), Guwahati Zonal Office-I, has provisionally attached gold weighing 37.064 kg, comprising 29 (twenty-nine) big-sized gold bars and 50 (fifty) small-sized gold pieces, together with ancillary silver-coloured metal flakes weighing 13 grams (Approx.), having an estimated value exceeding Rs. 54 Crore, under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, in connection with a case against Akshay Parshuram Bansode and other unknown persons.

The attached gold was seized by Assam Police on 30.06.2026 from the conscious possession of Akshay Parshuram Bansode at Kharghuli Hatisil, Guwahati, and presently lies in safe custody at the Kamrup Metro Treasury, Guwahati. ED initiated investigation under PMLA on the basis of registered by Latasil Police Station, Kamrup (Metro), Assam, for offences relating to organised illegal transportation and concealment of smuggled gold and criminal conspiracy.

Investigation revealed that Akshay Parshuram Bansode had, transporting gold across India on the instructions of an unidentified person controlling a syndicate of couriers, using a coded identification system, in return for a fixed monthly remuneration. The seized gold is alleged to have been smuggled into India through Myanmar and the UAE, with payments routed through hawala channels, and was sought to be introduced into the formal bullion trade through invoices generated by certain traders linked to a bullion refining company.

Investigation further revealed that a claim of ownership over the seized gold, sought to beestablished through invoices projected as sale documents, was examined and found by the jurisdictional Court to be prima facie fabricated, and the claimant’s application for release of the gold was accordingly rejected. It was also found that neither the person from whom the gold was seized nor the person claiming ownership over it could produce any customs clearance certificate, import document or other proof of lawful acquisition of the gold.Further investigation is under progress.