The three persons arrested by the Koyilandy police on Wednesday in connection with the alleged abduction of a Gulf-returnee were remanded in judicial custody on Thursday.
The police said K.K. Noushad, 31, T. Mohammed Salih, 38, and K.T. Saifudheen, 35, abducted Ashraf Ahammed for seizing a huge cache of gold he smuggled through the Calicut international airport.
The police suspect Ashraf, who returned from the Gulf on May 26, to be a carrier under the radar of gold smuggling rackets.
On Tuesday, a five-member gang from Koduvally barged into the house of the Arikkulam native and abducted him at gunpoint. He was taken to an unknown spot and assaulted, following which he suffered a leg fracture. He was later let off. The assailants used blades to injure the youth to elicit details of the gold he allegedly carried to the State.
The police said the assailants were part of a gang of smugglers from Koduvally. They came in search of Ashraf as he allegedly exchanged the smuggled gold with a gang based in Kannur.
Officials said they had not taken the statement of the abducted youth at face value. Ashraf was involved in a gold-smuggling operation six years ago via the Karipur airport. He was also a suspect in some of the recent gold-smuggling cases involving the Koduvally and Kannur-based gangs.
On interrogation, it was found that Ashraf exchanged the smuggled gold with the Kannur gang for ₹10 lakh. The police also got some digital evidence to the role of some convicts in the Kannur Central Jail.
