Border Guard Bangladesh on Sunday recovered 19 gold bars, each weighing around a kilogramme, while they were being smuggled to India through the border at Haribhasha Prodhanpara village in Panchagarh Sadar upazila.

Md Juwel, 32, of the upazila's Modhupur village, was detained at that time.

Acting on a tip-off, BGB men from Ghagra border outpost intercepted Juwel's motorbike in the morning near Haribhasha border pillar 755/4-S and recovered the gold bars worth about Tk 15.12 crore from his possession.

Tk 24,690 in cash and a cell phone were also seized from his possession.

Contacted, Lt Col Md Asaduzzaman Hakim, commander of BGB-56 (Nilphamari), said Juwel was handed over to police.

He added that the gold bars would be handed over to customs officials after completing the necessary formalities.