- A Delhi jeweler jumped to his death after he was accused of smuggling gold
- The DRI officials had raided Gaurav Gupta's house and shop at Shalimar Bagh April 24 and 25
- The total value of the seized goods is said to be about Rs 13 crore
- Gupta was found lying in a pool of blood and rushed to the hospital, but he succumbed
A jeweler jumped to his death Wednesday, April 25, from the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) building in central Delhi, over allegations of gold smuggling. The jeweler has been identified as Gaurav Gupta and the DRI officials had raided his house and shop at Shalimar Bagh April 24 and 25.
The officers seized 41 kg foreign-marked gold, 213 kg silver bullion and Rs 48 lakh in cash from his house. They had also raided his shop and seized 35 kg foreign-marked gold that was hidden in the door panel of a safe. The DRI officials estimated the total value of the seized goods to be about Rs 13 crore.
After the raids, the 40-year-old went to the DRI office and entered the building after getting a visitor's slip. While he visited the DRI office, along with his father, the DRI and the Delhi Police have clarified that Gupta had not been called for questioning, The Indian Express reported.
The officers had seized a locker during the raids and the two had reportedly gone to the office to open the locker. "Gupta's father was asked to accompany a staff to open the locker. His father went for the same while Gupta waited inside the visitors' room. At the time, some other staff was also inside the room, including an AC repairman," the IE quoted a police officer as saying.
When his father went to open the locker, Gupta noticed a narrow opening that was left due to the AC repair work and allegedly jumped out of the sixth floor. He was found lying in a pool of blood and was rushed to the Safdarjung hospital by the DRI officers but succumbed to his injuries. The Delhi police officials have started investigations into the matter.
"Unfortunately, the owner of the smuggled goods, who had visited the DRI office today, jumped through the window of the visitor's room at around 12 PM today," the Press Trust of India quoted the directorate's statement as saying. It further added that Gupta was "neither summoned nor arrested."
