The Feroke police on Monday took into custody eight persons, who reportedly escorted the car which met with the accident claiming the lives of five persons at Pulinchodu near Ramanattukara in the district.
They were taken into custody on the basis of scientific evidence that they were part of a gang engaged in grabbing smuggled gold. Police sources said a case would be registered against them under Section 399 (punishment for making preparations to commit dacoity) of the Indian Penal Code.
According to the police, the plan of the gang, including those killed in the accident, was to grab nearly 2.33 kg of smuggled gold from a passenger who had reached the Kozhikode airport on Monday morning. However, the Calicut Air Intelligence Unit had seized it during the checking. The accident occurred when the gang members were returning in haste after the failed plan, the police said.
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In the preliminary investigation, it was also found that they had locked horns with another group of Koduvally-based smugglers’ agents near the airport. Police sources said they were yet to get the details of the incident which was first reported by a group of local residents from Kondotty.
District Police Chief (Kozhikode city) A.V. George said the police had confidential information about the whole incident which could be revealed only at a later phase of the investigation. “We are investigating the whole incidents with the support of different police squads,” he said.
According to the police, there was no clarity in the initial stage about the actual cause of the accident. “At first, we got the information that they met with the accident while returning home by around 5 a.m. after dropping a friend at the airport. However, it was found false in the later investigation,” they said.
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In the wake of the latest developments, the Customs squad also launched a separate investigation into the incident.