Court grants bail to jeweller linked to gold smuggling involving Afghan diplomat

MUMBAI: The sessions court on Friday granted bail to an accused in a gold smuggling case involving a former Afghanistan consul general who attempted to smuggle 25 kilograms of gold from Dubai to India on April 25, 2024.
Additional sessions judge V. M. Pathade granted bail to the accused, Sahil Vinod Shah, a city jeweller, who was arrested in the case by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence for his role in the smuggling racket.
According to the DRI, Afghan diplomat Zakia Wardak provided gold bars to three jewellers, including Shah. The other two jewellers were identified as Vaibhav Thaker and Vinod Shah. All three are residents of Mumbai.
The Afghan diplomat was detained in Mumbai on April 25 with 25 kg of gold bars bearing foreign marks worth ₹18.60 crore, after her arrival from Dubai. This led to the arrests of the three jewellers, including Shah.
Shah’s role in the smuggling ring was to sell the gold and purportedly give the money to a staff member of the Afghan consulate in Mumbai, identified as Rafiullah Kelewal.
Diplomat Wardak’s role in the case had raised pertinent questions with reference to diplomatic procedure and relations between Afghanistan, India, and the United Arab Emirates. As a major diplomatic fallout of the smuggling scandal, Wardak had to resign from her post.
According to the DRI, in January and April of 2024, the smuggling syndicate was able to illegally bring 300 kg of foreign-marked gold to India.
After the gold incident, Wardak declared her decision to “step away” from the Afghan Consulate in Mumbai, blaming “persistent attacks” on her and her family to defame them.