Seven Indian Nationals who were arrested earlier in February for smuggling around 8kg of gold have been sentenced from one and half years to 3 years in prison.
In a verdict passed by the Paro District Court today, four men who were arrested as carriers of gold for another, received one and half years of imprisonment each.
Another Indian national who had come to receive the four men at the airport and was found guilty of the offence, was sentenced to 3 years imprisonment. He was charged for two cases of aiding and abetting an earlier smuggling case and for attempt to receive smuggled goods.
Two other accomplice, who were found in a hotel room in Thimphu, have also been sentenced to three years each and have been asked to pay over Nu.3.50mn each.
The two had earlier confessed to police of bringing a kilogram of gold each and handing it over to another Indian national.
The convicts have been given ten days to appeal the case to the High Court if unsatisfied.
