Customs superintendent at Calicut airport land in police net while handing over gold to two passengers

Unaccounted money, expensive watches, four passports recovered from his quarters

File photo used for representational purposes only. | Photo Credit: K. Ananthan

The police nabbed a Customs superintendent at the Calicut international airport at Karipur while handing over smuggled-in gold to two passengers outside the airport on Thursday.

The police team supervised by District Police Chief S. Sujit Das was aghast as a senior Customs officer fell in their net.

The police team nabbed superintendent Muniappan P. by cleverly following two passengers who smuggled in 640 grams of gold from Dubai.

K.H. Abdul Naseer, 46, and K.J. Shamseer, 20, two brothers from Kasaragod, reached Karipur from Dubai on Air India Express flight X 358 on Thursday morning. Mr. Muniappan, who was on duty at that time, found 640 grams of gold hidden in their luggage.

But he struck a deal with the siblings and accounted only 320 grams of gold and issued notice for compounding of duty. He assured them that he would bring the remaining 320 grams out of the airport and hand it over to them if they pay him ₹25,000.

He gave them his number and told them to call him and meet him after his duty shift at his living quarters. However, the police followed the passengers on the basis of a tip-off. The police caught the passengers and the Customs superintendent when they met at Mr. Muniappan’s quarters.

The police recovered 320 grams of gold from Mr. Muniappan’s body, and ₹4.43 lakh in unaccounted money from his quarters. The police also recovered 500 UAE dirham, many expensive watches and four Indian passports from him.

The police said Mr. Muniappan used to help gold smugglers take the smuggled-in gold out of the airport for a reward. He would seize the passenger’s passport and hand it back to the him/her only when he is given the money he demands.

Mr. Sujit Das said they were investigating if there was any link between Mr. Muniappan and the gold smuggling racket. He said a report would be given to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI).

The Customs department, meanwhile, started an investigation into Mr. Muniappan’s involvement in gold smuggling.