New Delhi, India--- When a team of Indian
surgeons opened up the stomach of a patient
complaining of abdominal pain, they had no idea
they'd extract a fortune.
The patient, whose name was not released, was
hiding 12 gold bars in his belly. He apparently
smuggled them into India to evade import duty,
police and doctors said Tuesday.
Each bar weighed 33 grams, said C.S.
Ramachandran, who conducted the surgery at a
hospital in New Delhi on April 9.
The 63-year-old patient, an Indian citizen, visited
the hospital a day before with severe stomach pain
and nausea.
"He told us he had accidentally swallowed the cap
of a plastic bottle," Ramachandran said.
Investigations could not confirm his
claim.
"We couldn't (either) make out they
were gold bars," the doctor said. "But
yes, X-Rays showed there was
intestinal blockage, which required
surgery."
On the day of surgery, stunned doctors
pulled out the yellow metal from his
stomach.
"It was unexpected," Ramachandran
said.
The hospital handed over the precious
extraction to local police.
The bars have since been sent to
customs, which is conducting a probe,
said Alok Kumar, a deputy
commissioner of police.
He didn't disclose the name of the patient. Nor did
he reveal which country he smuggled the gold
from.
The patient was discharged after the surgery, and
is doing fine.
India is the world's second-largest gold market
after China, according to the World Gold Council
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