Karipur Airport is the preferred airport for gold smugglers in Kerala. Detaining gold smugglers is a regular occurrence here. In Karipur, information is coming out that the gold smuggling gangs have links with bureaucratic lobbies. Here, the police used to seize gold from those who came out after customs clearance. New information about gold smuggling was obtained during the investigations conducted.
It is alleged that a mafia group, including top government officials, smuggled gold through Calicut International Airport, or Karipur Airport, in Malappuram district. The police have found that the accused smuggled gold 60 times. The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) Assistant Commandant and Customs officers are suspected of being members of this mafia.
On the 5th, the police learned that gold was being smuggled in air horns. After a subsequent inspection, the smugglers and those who came to collect the gold were detained. Among them, Faisal, a native of Kondotti, was also arrested. Kondotty is the nearest town to the airport.
Based on the information obtained from the interrogation of Faisal, the role of Sharafali, an Airport baggage handler, came out. Sharafali revealed how the racket operated. District police chief S Sujit Das formed a special investigation team to investigate the matter.
Allegedly, the gold smuggling took place under the coordination of Commandant Naveen. Authorities recovered the duty-scheduled list of the customs officials from the possession of the gold smuggling gang. From them, the police got information that high-ranking Customs officials were involved in this racket. Gold was smuggled when these accused officers arrived for duty.
Kerala police have also received information about Customs officers conspiring with Naveen in the gold smuggling. Police also said the accused officials and smugglers used Closed User group (CUG) Mobile SIMs. Mobile operators offer CUG SIMs as an additional service to mobile subscribers that allows them to place and receive calls from any associated group member. Though it is a boon for the corporate sector, such SIM cards are often misused by criminal syndicates and smugglers.
It was discovered that the group had smuggled gold for Rafeeq, a resident of Koduvally, Kozhikode. The police have also obtained evidence of several financial transactions between officials and Rafeeq.
HinduPost had reported that Kerala Police submitted a report to the National Investigation Authority (NIA) identifying the Koduvally area as the ‘hub of gold smuggling.’ The information also restated NIA’s suspicion of the money and gold smuggling being used for terror activities by extremists and Islamist groups.
Do we have a rotten system where anti-nationals are handling our airports? Allegations that Customs officers are among the most corrupt in our country have existed for long. It is feared that the gold smuggling tainted Kerala Government might topple the inquiry unless central agencies take over the investigation.
On 12 October, CISF Assistant Commandant Naveen Kumar, a native of Haryana, was suspended by the CISF Director General Naveen was taken into custody and questioned by the police, and his flat was also searched. The Customs Preventive Division is also investigating the incident.
The police found that CISF officer Naveen and two senior customs officers were involved in gold smuggling through Karipur airport. The police also found that Naveen handed over the duty chart of the customs officer at the airport to the gold smuggling gang. After this, he was taken into custody and questioned.
Last morning, a police team led by Kondotty DySP Moosa Vallikadan searched Naveen’s flat. After Naveen’s role in smuggling became apparent, the investigation was to collect more evidence. Police recovered some bank documents, mobile phones, etc. The inspection lasted till three in the evening. The police are seeking details from him about two senior customs officials involved in the smuggling.
