£9,500 worth of gold removed from Indian man's small intestines
Businessman has to have surgery to remove 12 pieces of the metal he swallowed on trip to Singapore to avoid customs duty
Each of the gold nuggets weighed 33g. The Indian businessman was unable to pass the metal despite drinking lots of water and taking laxatives. Photograph: Rick Bowmer/AP
Doctors in India have discovered 12 gold nuggets in the stomach of a wealthy businessman, according to local reports.
The businessman from the Chandni Chowk district of Delhi visited hospital on 9 April, saying he had swallowed a metal bottle cap in anger.
On examination, doctors found 12 nuggets, each weighing 33g, stuck in his small intestine. The metal is estimated to be worth £9,500 in total. Indian taxes gold imports at 15%.
The businessman told the doctors he had swallowed the nuggets 10 days before in Singapore to avoid customs duties. On returning to India he found that drinking lots of liquid and taking laxatives did not help him pass the metal out of his body. After days of pain he decided to go to hospital.
"I have been treating this patient since 1989, when he came for gall bladder removal. He is a wealthy man with a good business in Chandni Chowk and both his sons are settled abroad. It is both surprising and shocking to know that he could do something like this," Dr CS Ramachandran, senior consulting surgeon at Sir Ganga Ram hospital, told a local news website.
Dr Dhawal Sharma, another surgeon, said the operation to remove the nuggets was dangerous. "It was a high-risk surgery because the patient had undergone operations four times in the past. We counselled him and finally got together a team of surgeons to get through the abdominal cavity to remove the foreign metal."
The patient was discharged this week but police have confiscated his gold.
Businessman has to have surgery to remove 12 pieces of the metal he swallowed on trip to Singapore to avoid customs duty
Each of the gold nuggets weighed 33g. The Indian businessman was unable to pass the metal despite drinking lots of water and taking laxatives. Photograph: Rick Bowmer/AP
Doctors in India have discovered 12 gold nuggets in the stomach of a wealthy businessman, according to local reports.
The businessman from the Chandni Chowk district of Delhi visited hospital on 9 April, saying he had swallowed a metal bottle cap in anger.
On examination, doctors found 12 nuggets, each weighing 33g, stuck in his small intestine. The metal is estimated to be worth £9,500 in total. Indian taxes gold imports at 15%.
The businessman told the doctors he had swallowed the nuggets 10 days before in Singapore to avoid customs duties. On returning to India he found that drinking lots of liquid and taking laxatives did not help him pass the metal out of his body. After days of pain he decided to go to hospital.
"I have been treating this patient since 1989, when he came for gall bladder removal. He is a wealthy man with a good business in Chandni Chowk and both his sons are settled abroad. It is both surprising and shocking to know that he could do something like this," Dr CS Ramachandran, senior consulting surgeon at Sir Ganga Ram hospital, told a local news website.
Dr Dhawal Sharma, another surgeon, said the operation to remove the nuggets was dangerous. "It was a high-risk surgery because the patient had undergone operations four times in the past. We counselled him and finally got together a team of surgeons to get through the abdominal cavity to remove the foreign metal."
The patient was discharged this week but police have confiscated his gold.
