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Six detained for smuggling gold worth ₹3cr at Calicut airport
The six accused have been identified as Sameer, Abdul Sakkeer, Azeez Kollandavida, Ligeesh, Muhammad Midlaj and Muhammad Basheer
Six people were apprehended by the customs officials at the Calicut International Airport in Kerala for smuggling in gold to a collective tune of around ₹3 crore, officials familiar with the matter said on Monday.
The accused people, who had flown individually to Calicut from different locations in the Gulf countries, were caught by the Customs in a period of 14 hours, from Sunday night till Monday morning.
“The total amount of gold recovered from six people was 5,460 grams which has an approximate value of ₹3 crore. The gold was found on the bodies of the fliers as well as in the luggage they carried. It was being carried in the form of capsules as well as paste kept in thin envelopes fixed to the sides of carton boxes,” a customs official said.
“We suspected smuggling when we saw a yellow discolouration on the sides of the carton boxes in the X-ray machine. The extraction of the gold is yet to be done,” the official said.
The six accused have been identified as Sameer, Abdul Sakkeer, Azeez Kollandavida, Ligeesh, Muhammad Midlaj and Muhammad Basheer. Sameer and Sakkeer were onboard the same flight from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and were apprehended for carrying gold in the form of capsules. Azeez and Ligeesh arrived from Doha in Qatar and were caught with four and two capsules respectively. Midlaj, who landed from Dubai, was caught with gold in the form of paste hidden in carton boxes. Basheer, who was apprehended with two capsules of gold, arrived from Riyadh, the official said.
Meanwhile, there was an incident outside the Calicut airport on Monday when a gang of five persons attempted to abduct Ligeesh, resulting in a scuffle with him. The gang was reportedly trying to steal the gold he carried. Alert CISF officials on the spot caught Ligeesh and one member of the gang, handing them over to the Customs and local police respectively.
