The family of the gunman of the United Arab Emirates’ (UAE’s) consular attache has said he has been missing for the last two days, in another twist in the gold smuggling case in Kerala.
Jaya Ghosh’s relative said he had called them two days ago and that he received some threats around the same time as smugglers suspect he was the one who tipped the customs department about the hidden gold. They fear there is a threat to his life.
Earlier, there were reports that a multi-agency team had detained him but agencies denied it. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has taken over the case and several other central agencies are also probing the case.
Before Ghosh went missing, he had surrendered his service pistol, his brother-in-law has said.
Reports have said Swapna Suresh, the second accused in the case, called him several times the day 30kg of gold was seized from a consignment which came in the name of an official of the consular office in Thiruvananthapuram on July 5.
There was an attempt was made to smuggle the gold through diplomatic baggage, which according to the Vienna Convention is not checked by customs officials.
The UAE attache Rashed Khamis Ali Musaiqri Alshemeli slipped out of the country three days ago amid reports he was called back by his country. Earlier, the ministry of external affairs (MEA) had sought permission from the UAE to have a meeting with the attache.
NIA filed a first information report (FIR) on July 10 against P Sarith Kumar, who was arrested by customs officials on July 5, and Swapna Suresh, Sandip Nair and Fazil Fareed, an alleged smuggler from Ernakulum but based in the UAE, and charged them under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).
On July 15, it added one more name to the FIR, an alleged gold smuggler named KT Ramees. MEA has cancelled the passport of Faisal Fareed.
The Kerala government on Thursday suspended chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s former principal secretary M Sivasankar, a senior Indian Administrative Services (IAS) officer, for violating service rules.
Vijayan said the action was taken on the basis of an inquiry report that pointed to lapses on Sivasankar’s part. The inquiry was conducted by a two-member panel headed by chief secretary Viswas Mehta.
Sivasankar was removed from the post of the CM’s principal secretary last week after allegations that he was close to Suresh, one of the key accused in the gold smuggling case.
Police in Kerala have sent a report to NIA and asked it to investigate the “terror angle” in all major gold smuggling cases in the state, two officials aware of the matter said.
Kerala police suspect that some smugglers and hawala operators have terror links, one of the two officials told HT. Hawala transactions worth over Rs 1,000 crore annually on an average have been taking place in the state, he added.
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