'Key operator' of international gold smuggling racket brought to India from UAE: CBI
New Delhi, Sep 10: A key operator of an international gold smuggling racket with an Interpol Red Notice against him was brought from the UAE on Tuesday in an operation coordinated by the CBI with the NIA and Interpol, officials said.
Muniyad Ali Khan is the third fugitive in the case who was successfully brought back to India, they said.
Khan landed at the Jaipur airport from the UAE and was arrested by the NIA, the officials said.
In the case probed by the NIA, it was alleged that Khan had conspired in the illegal smuggling of gold bars from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, into India along with other accused, a CBI spokesperson said here.
Two co-accused in the case, Shokat Ali and Mohabbat Ali, were brought from Saudi Arabia on April 03, 2024 and August 17, 2023, respectively in an operation coordinated by the Global Operations Centre of the CBI with Interpol NCB-Riyadh and the NIA.
It is alleged that Khan along with the co-accused had provided gold bars to be smuggled from Riyadh into Jaipur.
Gold bars weighing 18.56 kilograms worth Rs 9 crore in the market were seized while being smuggled into the country at the Jaipur airport from Saudi Arabia in 2020 as part of the "criminal conspiracy to derail the country's economic security and monetary stability", the NIA said in a statement on August 17, 2023.
The bars had been concealed inside a battery of emergency lights for smuggling into India, the statement had said.
"He (Khan) is involved in international gold smuggling from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, to Jaipur, India. The subject was charge-sheeted by the NIA on March 22, 2021, before the NIA Special Court, Jaipur. He was wanted for criminal conspiracy for offences under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act," the spokesperson said.
The CBI got a Red Notice issued against Khan from Interpol on September 13, 2021, at a request of the NIA which was circulated to all law enforcement agencies globally for tracking of the wanted criminal.
The Red Notice resulted in locating Khan in the UAE.
"The CBI as National Central Bureau for Interpol in India coordinates closely with all law enforcement agencies in India for cooperation over Interpol channels," he said.
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Karnataka govt to discuss Bill on levying cess to gig workers during winter session
Bengaluru: The state government is likely to introduce in the winter session of the Karnataka Assembly this year a Bill to levy a cess that will fund the welfare of gig workers, an issue that is being discussed for several months.
The quantum to be levied as cess for the welfare of the workers is yet to be confirmed and there is also ambiguity in the draft Karnataka Platform-based Gig Workers (Social Security and Welfare) Bill regarding the calculation of the cess to be levied. The authorities concerned are yet to decide if the cess should be levied as per transaction or based on the state-specific turnover of an aggregator, Deccan Herald reports.
Mohammed Mohsin, Principal Secretary of the Labour Department has said that the Department had already held 20 to 25 rounds of discussions on the matters with the stakeholders. A levy of cess as per transaction was preferred by both parties since the aggregators do not usually disclose their total turnover.
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The Bill drafted proposes to set up a Karnataka Gig Worker’s Social Security and Welfare Fund, inclusive of money from the cess, government grant as well as contributions by individual platform-based gig workers.
During the Karnataka Assembly elections of 2023 too, the Congress had promised in its manifesto efforts for the welfare of gig workers. The party had also assured the workers that a Karnataka Platform-based Gig Workers’ Welfare Board would be set up with Rs 3,000-crore seed money as a revolving fund.
The Niti Aayog report of 2022 has stated that the gig workforce is expected to expand to 2.35 crore by 2029-30, which makes the Bill crucial.
Citing the provisions of the Centre’s Social Security Code, 2020, Babu Mathew from the Centre for Labour Studies at the National Law School of India University (NLSIU) also opined that contribution by an aggregator shall not cross 5 per cent of the amount that is paid or payable to either gig or platform workers.
