180 Kg Silver Intercepted at Rajkot Airport, 100 Kg Seized From Luxury Bus in Ahmedabad - Tax Evasion Angle Being Probed

A consignment of 180 kilograms silver valued at Rs 5 crore was intercepted at Hirasar Airport in Gujarat's Rajkot by the state's Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS), reported news agency PTI, citing officials said on Sunday. This comes a day after the central government imposed import curbs on silver by putting the metal under licensed regime for inbound shipments.The ATS had received information regarding the suspected movement of a large quantity of silver through air cargo at the Rajkot airport, following which the local Crime Branch was alerted, an official told the news agency."A joint operation was carried out with the local Crime Branch. Approximately 180 kg of silver, valued at around Rs 5 crore, was intercepted along with the intended receiver.

The parcels were examined in his presence," Gujarat ATS Deputy Superintendent of Police Virjit Parmar said.The consignment had been sent from Varanasi-based firm called 'Sunrise', with preliminary investigation revealing that the documentation related to it was incomplete, raising suspicion of possible tax evasion, Parmar said.After completion of legal formalities, further investigation into the case has been handed over to the State Goods and Services Tax (GST) department, as per police.In a separate incident, the State GST department seized around 100 kg of silver from a luxury bus in Ahmedabad’s Geeta Mandir area. Preliminary findings revealed that nearly 80% of the consignment lacked valid documentation, and no trader has come forward to claim ownership so far, raising strong suspicions of tax evasion and illegal movement.The government on Saturday imposed import curbs on silver by putting the metal under licensed regime for inbound shipments. It had, on May 13, hiked import duty on precious metals - gold, and silver - from 6 per cent to 15 per cent. The effective duty (including 3 per cent IGST) is over 18 per cent.It was hiked to control the outflow of forex by curbing non-essential imports.The import policy for silver, including silver played with gold and platinum, "are revised from free to restricted...with immediate effect," the Directorate General of Foreign Trade said in a notification.Goods under the restricted category need a government license for imports.The import curbs, however, will not be applicable for imports by 100 per cent Export Oriented Units (EOUs), Special Economic Zone (SEZ) units provided such imported goods are not sold in the domestic market.According to the commerce ministry data, silver imports jumped more than two-fold to USD 411 million during April. In 2025-26, the imports jumped about 150 per cent to USD 12 billion due to higher prices. In volume terms, it rose by 42 per cent to 7,334.96 tonnes in the last fiscal.Silver was priced at around Rs 2.53 lakh per kg. The metal is an essential component in several industries, ranging from electrical switches and solar panels to chemical catalysts and medical equipment.(With PTI Inputs)