Fayaz, who is accused of smuggling in gold through the Nedumbassery international airport, on Wednesday accused Customs officials of torturing him in custody. He gave the complaint in writing before the Ernakulam Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Court (Economic Offences) along with his plea for bail.
According to the complaint, a senior Customs official hit him on the face, and once with a pipe, when he was in their custody. The complaint said the Customs officers applied ice to remove the swelling he suffered on his head from the torture. Fayaz also accused the officials of trying to foist a fake case against him. He said the officials had made up several pages of statements saying they were made by him. Fayaz said in his request for bail that he had no link with the crime and that he was deliberately being trapped in the case. He was arrested from New Delhi airport on Sunday when he was about to board a flight to Dubai.
The two women, Arifa and Asifa, who were caught from Nedumbassery airport with 20 kg of gold, also applied for bail at the court. The women said they had tried to smuggle in the gold under pressure from their husbands.
The women sought bail saying Arifa had a three-and-a-half-year-old child and that Asifa was pregnant. They also cited ill health as a reason for seeking bail. The bail pleas will be considered by the court on Thursday.
