Hyderabad: Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) officials have made a major seizure of gold in Telangana’s Yadadri-Bhongir district and arrested three persons, an official statement said on Wednesday.

Officials said the three persons travelling in the SUV were sent to judicial custody

According to a DRI statement, the gold, weighing 25 kg and valued at Rs 11.63 crore was seized at the Pantangi toll plaza on the Vijayawada-Hyderabad highway from an SUV bearing Assam registration number plates.

Based on specific intelligence inputs, the DRI officials were on the lookout for a consignment of smuggled gold being transported from Guwahati to Hyderabad.

The authorities intercepted the vehicle at the toll plaza on Tuesday, and recovered the gold bearing foreign markings, hidden in the dashboard in the space created by removing the safety airbags.

Officials said the three persons travelling in the SUV were sent to judicial custody.

The gold, allegedly handed over in Guwahati, had traversed the poll-bound states of Assam and West Bengal, but was intercepted before it could reach its destination of Hyderabad.