The Crime Branch (CB) has opened an inquiry into the gang violence related to gold smuggling and hawala rackets in north Kerala.
Superintendent of Police, Crime Branch, Malappuram, K.V. Santosh, is heading the probe.
The government ordered the investigation based on emerging evidence of the role of organised gangs using political parties, particularly youth organisations, as a cover for their illegal activities.
Moreover, the gold smuggling and hawala rackets had spawned an underworld in Kannur, Kozhikode and Malappuram districts.
An official said the CB probe would not overlap with Customs and ED investigations into the racket. Instead, it would focus on law and order incidents and IPC offences involving smuggling networks.
The arrest of at least two DYFI activists on Karipur airport gold smuggling charges and the hawala heist at Kodakara had created a sense of insecurity in society. The Opposition had used the incidents to put the government in the defence.
The BJP had highlighted the involvement of DYFI activists and CPI(M) men convicted of political murders in the gold smuggling racket.
