Two gold bars weighing one kilo each were seized from underneath the seat of a flight that arrived from Sharjah at Karipur Airport on Sunday, hinting at an involvement of flight cleaning workers or attendants in a smuggling racket.
Ashiq Thenginkunnummal, 25, from Ekarool near Perambra in Kozhikode district, was arrested for smuggling in the gold worth Rs.55 lakh. He arrived from Sharjah on Air India flight AI-998 on Sunday morning.
A team of Air Customs Intelligence Wing led by Assistant Commissioner C.P.M. Abdul Rasheed and superintendents Francis Kodankandath, T.G. Rejit, U. Balan, and P. Unnikrishnan detained Ashiq at the airport terminal building following a tip-off.
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On questioning, he admitted to carrying the gold bars illegally and leaving them under the seat of the flight.
Ashiq also admitted that a man named Nadir from Koduvally handed the gold bars to him at Dubai, and instructed him to leave them underneath the flight seat. He was reportedly offered Rs.50,000 for carrying the gold.
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Customs Intelligence Officer Ashok Kumar, head havildar C.C. Sivadasan, havildars A.R. Pradeep and P. Finser helped the Customs team.
Ashiq had worked in Abu Dhabi National Oil Company for over three years. He quit the job and returned home to trade in second-hand vehicles.
But he returned to Dubai a few days after he suffered heavy loss in business.
The Customs Preventive Division has begun an inquiry at Ekarool and Koduvally. “We are trying to pin the people behind the gold racket,” said a senior Customs officer.