Kerala gold smuggling case: UAE consular attache’s missing gunman found with slit wrists

Police started a search after his last call was traced near his house on the outskirts of the state capital of Thiruvananthapuram.

The gunman of the United Arab Emirates’ (UAE’s) consular attache, who his family said had been missing since Thursday, was found near his house in Kerala’s Thiruvananthapuram with cuts on his wrist, police said on Friday.

A senior police official said preliminary reports suggest it may be a suicide bid and that Ghosh is not in a position to record his statement.(shutterstock)

Jaya Ghosh’s family had said they got a call from him two days ago and that he had received some threats around the same time.

Reports have said Swapna Suresh, the second accused in the Kerala gold smuggling case, called him several times the day 30kg of gold was seized from a consignment addressed to an official of the consular office in Thiruvananthapuram on July 5.

There was an attempt to smuggle the gold through diplomatic baggage, which according to the Vienna Convention is not checked by customs officials.

Ghosh was rushed to the medical college hospital and doctors said he was out of danger.

A senior police official said preliminary reports suggest it may be a suicide bid and that Ghosh is not in a position to record his statement.

Police started a search after his last call was traced near his house on the outskirts of the state capital of Thiruvananthapuram.

Ghosh’s boss, the UAE consulate attache Rashed Khamis Ali Musaiqri Alshemeli, had slipped out of the country three days ago amid reports he was called back by his country.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has taken over the gold smuggling case and several other central agencies are also probing it.

NIA filed a first information report (FIR) on July 10 against P Sarith Kumar, who was arrested by customs officials on July 5, and Swapna Suresh, Sandip Nair and Fazil Fareed, an alleged smuggler from Ernakulum but based in the UAE, and charged them under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).

It added the name of an alleged gold smuggler KT Ramees to the FIR on July 15.

The Kerala government on Thursday suspended chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s former principal secretary M Sivasankar for violating service rules.

Vijayan said the action was taken on the basis of an inquiry report that pointed to lapses on Sivasankar’s part. The inquiry was conducted by a two-member panel headed by chief secretary Viswas Mehta.

The senior Indian Administrative Services (IAS) officer was removed from the post of the CM’s principal secretary last week after allegations that he was close to Suresh, one of the key accused in the gold smuggling case.