Abid Hussain had no match in the world of smuggling. He was FIRed many times but charges against him were never proved.
Seth Abid Hussain (Photo Credit : Twitter)
The matter is quiet old. In April 1958, a man is arrested at Karachi Airport in neighboring Pakistan, from whom three thousand one hundred Tola gold is seized. This passenger was going to board a flight to Lahore. A few days later, this passenger got out of jail and then got involved in the gold smuggling business. Once again the police saw him in a village near Kasur but he escaped leaving 45 gold bricks. Who is this man who loved gold so much that he was ready to take the iron from the police every time. Pakistan’s newspapers used to call it ‘Golden Fugitive’. The name of this man famous as ‘Gold King’ was Seth Abid Hussain.
The story starts from there when Abid ran away leaving 45 bricks. After six years, he reached Chandni Chowk Delhi, where he was doing a gold deal with the businessman of Moti Bazar. Delhi Police tried to arrest him and once again he escaped. However, one of his accomplices was caught by the police, from which 44 bricks of gold were recovered.
Step into the world of smuggling consisting of fishermen
According to the BBC report, a newspaper published in Lahore wrote about Abid in 1977 that he is a ‘golden fugitive and an extraordinary person who is adept and extremely clever at changing forms’. Abid often traveled to Delhi, Dubai and London. Pakistan and Interpol used to constantly look for him. Abid was counted among the richest gold smugglers in Pakistan. Seth Abid Hussain died at the age of 85.
In the year 1936 Abid was born in Kasur. He spent his childhood in the border area of Kasur. Abid moved to Karachi in 1950. Here his father started a gold-silver business in Sarafa Bazar. During this time Abid met some fishermen who smuggled gold from Dubai. Together with him, Abid learned what is called gold smuggling and by the late 1950s, along with his colleague Qasim Bhatt, acquired his dominance in the world of gold smuggling in Pakistan.
Smuggling franchise given on network growth
Seth Abid was a powerful figure of Pakistan, he was active not only in the border areas of Pakistan but also in the political and administrative part of the country. Not only this, Abid also used to work beyond international boundaries. He constantly traveled to London, Delhi and Dubai in connection with gold smuggling and by 1980 he ended India’s hegemony in the world of gold smuggling.
Initially, Abid’s network was extremely limited. His brother and son-in-law used to go to Delhi to meet gold smugglers. In 1963, when Abid’s brother-in-law was arrested with 44 bricks of gold, news appeared in the Indian newspaper that Abid also has a ‘network’ in India. Abid used to go on Haj every year. Gradually, when Abid’s network started growing, he gave the smuggling franchise to the people living in the villages along the border areas of Punjab. Abid had no match in the world of smuggling. He was FIRed many times but the charges against him were never proved.
When the government fell behind Abid
The government used to give protection to Abid. Abid’s name was included in the list of Pakistan’s richest people. His wealth and investment spanned from Lahore, Karachi to Dubai and London. However, Abid also faced government pressures. His house was raided in 1974, in which 125 crore Pakistan rupees, 40 lakh gold and 20 lakh Swiss watches were recovered from his house. Police also seized three dozen vehicles and a dozen horses, which were used in smuggling.
Abid was accused of being involved in smuggling globally. The then Pakistani Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto set up a special tribunal for the ‘Seth Abid international smuggling case’, which recorded the witnesses of dozens of people, but Abid did not appear before the tribunal even after a million attempts.
History’s largest search operation
Abid’s name has been included in the list of ‘Most Wanted’ people of Pakistan and to find them, the biggest search operation in history was conducted in collaboration with Pakistani Army, Police, Rangers and Naval Guards. Abid’s house in Karachi was also raided and a large amount of gold was recovered. The police was constantly running behind every information that Abid surrendered to the military government in the year 1977.
After some time, news came that Abid has donated one lakh 51 thousand for a hospital including a medical center hospital project. Gradually, the atmosphere changed and the wind that was going against Abid started flowing in his favor. In 1986, the Pakistan Central Board of Revenue allowed him to return three thousand and one hundred weavers of gold. It was the same gold which was seized in 1958 and the story started with the mention of it.
And Abid’s image has changed
Abid changed his identity completely by cooperating in the ‘nuclear program’. He founded the Hamza Foundation which worked for deaf and dumb children. He gave financial support to many institutions including cancer hospitals and never promoted this thing. He never earned fame with his welfare works, even after this, people knew that the reason was different.
Actually during a TV program Abid bought a bat for his son during the auction, which Javed Miandad used in Sharjah’s innings. The cost of this bat was five lakh rupees. After this, people started to know him and he became famous among the common people. Seth Abid Hussain died in 2021 but his stories are still famous in Pakistan.
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