In what you called as ‘unbelievable’ episode, the 'gold bars' seized last month by the Ahmedabad zonal unit of Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) have turned out to be lead bars with a coating of copper. Sources confirmed that the 52 bars, each thought to be 1 kg gold, weigh less and have no gold in them; they are actually made of lead and copper.

Interestingly, the central agency had claimed at the time that it had busted a major attempt to smuggle gold worth Rs 14 crore into the country.

The DRI had seized the so-called 'gold' from Delhi-based Surender Singh Dagar, 39, and Gurgaon-based Saurabh Sarjit Saharan, 37, from room no 207 of Ashray Inn located on Ashram road. The two accused were later sent to judicial custody.

It was later found that the each 'gold' bar had marking of 1 kg but weighed less than that. According to sources, the government-approved valuer came to the conclusion that the gold bars weighed 28.717 kg and were worth Rs 7.01 crore.

The DRI had then sent the bars to FSL to determine the purity of the 'gold'. "The bars that were sent to FSL are not made of gold. They are made of lead and have a coating of copper," said a source.

Now that the bars have turned out to be made of lead and copper, the agency is likely to change tack in its investigation.

"Gold or no gold, the case is still there. The accused had smuggled goods in their possession which had markings of outside India. It is still a case of smuggling," said a source.

The two accused had claimed that they had brought the bars to show it as sample to prospective buyers. However, sources in the investigating agency said that it is difficult to believe that someone would bring 52 bars to show as sample for his product.

"Brother of Surender Dagar is already in jail for involvement in the case of 60kg gold seized by the crime branch at city airport. The chain of events point towards a 'deeper conspiracy'," said a source.

DRI officials are likely to submit the FSL report in the metropolitan court on Wednesday. The two accused they had arrested in the case are still in jail.

- Manohar