Title - Mumbai raid turns angadia boys into frequent flyers

SURAT: Owner of a leading angadia firm was worried for his six courier boys carrying polished diamonds worth around Rs 70 crore to Mumbai every day onboard the Gujarat Mail. This traditional train route to Mumbai was largely unknown until the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and income tax officials seized three truckloads of the valuables at Mumbai Central last week.

But since the seizure the angadia businessman has told his boys to take flights. Too many people now know of their modus operandi making them vulnerable to organized gangs and thieves. At least three leading angadia firms dealing in diamonds are playing it safe and transporting precious gems by air.

Before this, 80-odd nondescript courier boys would take the Gujarat Mail or Saurashtra Express to Mumbai daily and carry with them diamonds worth over Rs 500 crore. They would often be escorted by Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel, but many believe the risk is too high now that their cover is blown.

The courier boys, posing as passengers, carry the diamond packets in tiny suitcases and board the flight in the morning to Mumbai. The delivery is made at the desired destinations in Mumbai before 12 pm.

"Since most of the diamond deliveries in Mumbai have to be made before 10 am, we have to board the night trains from Surat. Since there are security concerns after the raids in Mumbai, I have started making the diamond deliveries through the Surat-Mumbai flight for the past few days but with a delay of two hours at 12 noon," said an angadia firm owner in the diamond hub of Varachha.

"We have started sending diamond parcels worth Rs 40 crore by flight from Surat to Mumbai. The same courier boy would return to Surat at night carrying rough diamond parcels," he added.

K K Sharma, former executive director, Indian Diamond Institute (IDI), said, "Taking flights is good for the safety of couriers as well as the trade."

A senior officer at Surat airport said, "There are no restrictions as such in the domestic flights for carrying valuable goods. After all, the diamond consignments have the official transit invoices issued by the angadia firms." Sh