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Customs grill gunman of UAE consular’s attaché in Kerala gold smuggling case
Investigators suspect that the gunman enacted a suicide drama to divert attention in the gold smuggling case.
Customs sleuths probing the Kerala gold smuggling case on Monday questioned the gunman of United Arab Emirates (UAE) consular’s attaché who is recuperating in a hospital after an alleged suicide attempt on July 17, a top official said.
He reportedly told them that though he escorted some consignments as directed by consulate officials he never had any idea about the content and he came to know about the concealed gold from media reports.
But investigators feel he is an important link in the smuggling racket and the suicide attempt was a drama he enacted to divert attention. They said he will be questioned again after his discharge from the hospital.
“Our investigation is proceeding well. Different agencies are involved. Those who are arrested by the customs will be booked under Customs Act sections 112 A, 112 B, 132 and 133. We will go after those who helped them in the offence. We will get to the bottom of the syndicate this time,” said Customs Commissioner in-charge of Kerala and Laksshdweep Sumit Kumar.
The Customs had seized 30 kg gold from a consignment that came in the name of an official of the UAE consulate in Thiruvananthapuram on July 5. Later the case was handed over to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) but many other central agencies are also involved in the probe. The NIA has arrested four persons and Customs 13 in the case so far.
The smuggling racket has forced the Left-front government to sack two high-ranking officials - Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s powerful principal secretary M Sivasankar and his IT fellow Arun Balachandran, for their alleged links with some of the accused.
The CPI (M) has called a meeting of staff members of all ministers on July 23 where it is expected to chalk out a strict code of conduct for them. Some parties in the ruling coalition feel that a free hand to some of the bureaucrats led to such a pass that dented the image of the government when assembly polls are just nine months away.
Meanwhile state opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala has written a letter to CPI (M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury drawing his attention to latest developments in the state.
“We want to know whether the party condescends to the consultancy raj being promoted by CM Pinarayi Vijayan. Now the NIA is set to widen its scope of investigation including the CM’s office,” he said in the letter.
